RWBY: Darkfall
by SHDW productions
Summary: Two years after the events of the Breach we join Ruby and Weiss on a typically normal trip to the dentist. However, all does not go as planned and a new enemy is revealed. However, a question still remains is this "Mannequin" the real enemy or has the real enemy been among them this whole time?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**

 **I do not own RWBY.**

 **RWBY: Darkfall contains dark themes; and questionable morals.** **Viewer discretion is advised.**

"That Night"

What is behind a mask, Mr. Glass?

Is it a face?  
Is it a soul?

Is it a sense of protection?

Or do you wear it for pure intimidation alone?

Mr. Glass?

Mr. Glass?

Jozy Glass?

Ruby and Weiss were walking down a sidewalk located in Vale's business district. The streets were crowded with humans and faunus alike all either doing some last minute shopping in the fading sunlight or finishing their shifts. Ruby and Weiss were there for a different reason.

Weiss had a few quick errands to run; and had asked Ruby if she would come with her.

"So what errands did you need to run?" Ruby asked.

"Um, actually I needed to go to the Dentist and I hate going alone so I asked you to come." Weiss said; trying to put on a dignified expression.

"Aww Weiss is scared of the Dentist, how cute." Ruby teased.

"Shut up, I am not scared."

"Then go by yourself."

"No!"

Ruby, and Weiss made it to the dentist's office; and the receptionist lead her to the back room where the dentist would work on her. Ruby sat out in the waiting room; lost in thought.

" _I shouldn't be so hard on Weiss, I hate the dentist more than she does."_ Ruby thought.

Both of the girls were in their second year at Beacon; and were very well known for their prowess in combat. However, Cinder and the White Fang were still at large in Vale; and were currently missing. While Ruby was thinking about all of this the news came on the TV that was in one of the upper hand corners of the room.

"We come to you live with breaking news from last night." Lisa Lavender said.

"According to authorities the 'Mannequin' struck again and this time left 6 brutally maimed bodies; all having ties to the White Fang." she said.

" _Hmm, this 'Mannequin' guy has been turning up a lot recently. I wonder why they call him Mannequin."_ Ruby thought. As she was thinking about this she heard a woman scream from outside. It was dark out so Ruby could barely make out the silhouette of a woman running from out of a dark alley way. The older receptionist did not hear the woman so she continued her routine. Ruby stood up; and went over to the receptionist.

"Hi, can you tell Weiss to meet me outside when she is done?" Ruby asked.

"I sure can; is she your girlfriend?" she asked.

Ruby blushed heavily. "No, uh she's just a friend."

The receptionist nodded; and continued her work.

Ruby walked out of the Dentist's office; and shook her head clear of what had just happened. She then walked toward the alleyway that the woman ran out of. As she got closer she could clearly hear the sound of someone choking. Her instincts kicked in and ran toward whoever was in trouble. She ran down the alleyway until she found herself in a large space between buildings. She stopped and hid behind the wall as she saw what was in the center of the area. A tall man was holding a White Fang soldier by his neck. Without even thinking Ruby ran out and withdrew Crescent Rose.

"Hey!" she yelled.

The man turned towards her; and stared at her. Ruby flinched at what she saw. He was wearing a mask that covered his whole face. The top half of the mask was canvas; while the bottom half was mechanical. Seeing that she had a weapon in her hands he snapped the man's neck with one hand and turned all the way towards her.

"So you're the 'Mannequin' I take it." Ruby said; moving closer to him. Just then the moon illuminated the area; and let her get a full view of what her opponent had. On one leg he had a brace that he didn't really need; and had another one on his right arm. He was also covered in a type of armor that she had never seen before. Mannequin hit a button on a pad that he had attached to his arm brace. This undid the locks on the metal jaw of his mask; allowing him to speak.

"You are correct, Huntress." he said in a deep raspy voice.

"Now, let me ask you something. Are you scared?" he asked.

"What? No way." Ruby replied.

" I see. Well, I will be leaving." he said; starting to walk off.

Ruby was not going to let him leave. She shot a round over his head making him stop.

"You're not going anywhere." she said.

"So if you're not going to let me go it looks like I'll have to break you." Mannequin said; turning around and securing the locks on his mask.

Ruby took a defensive position trying to read him. He stood there staring at her with his red eyes. Ruby finally ran out of patience; and shot Crescent Rose behind her propelling her forward. She came at Mannequin with lightning fast speed. She raised Crescent Rose over her head in an attempt to impale him. However, he shifted his position causing Ruby to miss. He then wrapped his right arm around her weapon causing her to not be able to pick it back up. Seeing this Ruby punched him in the face; making a sharp metal sound, and a crack. Mannequin shrugged it off and kicked her in the stomach sending her flying back. Her back hit the wall; and the wind was knocked out of her.

" _I know what those braces were for now. They are amplifying his strength."_ Ruby thought; whilst trying to catch her breath.

"Didn't they ever teach you to not punch metal?" Mannequin asked.

" _What?"_ Ruby thought.

She then looked down at her hands and was shocked. The ring finger on her left hand was broken; and was pointing a different way. Ruby stood up shakily and looked at Mannequin. Seeing this he lifted Crescent Rose.

"You have a nice garden tool here. It must have taken forever to build it." he said; holding Crescent Rose with both his hands.

"Yeah, what do you care?" Ruby yelled.

"I was just wondering how long it would take you to build a new one."

He then snapped Crescent Rose in half; and threw the bladed half into the ground with such a force that it shattered. Ruby was mortified by what had just happened. She built and LOVED that weapon.

"I'll kill you." Ruby said; her hair blacking out half of her face.

Mannequin made a "come here" motion with his hand. Ruby sprang into action; using her semblance to speed herself up. She started throwing punch after punch; but none of them seemed to do any damage. Finally Mannequin had enough. He caught one of Ruby's punches; and threw her to the ground. Still holding her arm he twisted it; and kicked it making sure he broke every one of the bones in her arm. Ruby was gasping for air as she was trying to pick herself up. He then put two good kicks into Ruby's sides; breaking one or several ribs on each side.

Ruby was able to get up; and stood there breathing heavily. Tears were running down her face. She screamed as she ran towards Mannequin; and tried to hit him again. He dodged it; and pulled her legs out from under her. She hit the ground with a thud.

"You don't know when you're beat do you, Huntress?" Mannequin asked; walking toward her. The metal apparatus on his boot making a loud thudding sound on the ground. He placed his boot over one of Ruby's ankles; and crushed it. This made Ruby scream; which was then followed by sobs. He then moved to her head and picked her up by her neck. He started whaling on her face giving her a black eye, a broken nose and a large cut on her forehead.

"Please just kill me." Ruby said; between sobs.

"Why would I want to kill you? You're innocent so you don't deserve death." he said; dropping her to the ground.

"However, your own naivety brought this down on you."

Ruby was slipping in and out of consciousness; and could barely hear him. She could feel her ribs shifting around with every labored breath she took.

"Do you think you can escape? If so try to escape." Mannequin said.

Ruby started to crawl away towards the alleyway. She barely got a foot before the remaining half of Crescent Rose slammed into her back like a hammer. It was still so heavy, even though being only half of it, it broke her back. Ruby laid there helpless as a blade of grass. She was then picked up off the ground by her neck again; looking very much dead.

"You don't deserve this." Mannequin said; ripping Ruby's cloak off of her. This act made Ruby scream louder than she had ever done before.

Weiss stood there in front of the Dentist's Office; holding herself.

" _Come on Ruby, it's cold."_

" _Where could she have gone? She didn't ditch me did she?! No, that's not Ruby. Then where could she have gone?"_ Weiss was thinking all these questions to herself as she stood there waiting. Suddenly a bloodcurdling scream brought Weiss back to reality. Recognizing the voice Weiss took off at a full sprint; drawing Myrtenaster in the process. She ran down the alleyway; and found Ruby being held by an unknown man.

"Ruby!" she yelled.

This startled Mannequin causing him to drop Ruby. He then withdrew a red and black sword from the sheath on his belt and pointed it at Weiss. As she ran closer the red blade gradually started to turn purple. It started glowing; and a large sound wave was sent at Weiss. She was knocked back and momentarily deafened. She sat up; and saw mannequin put a finger up to his mask and then he disappeared in a bunch of black smoke. She then ran over to Ruby; and held her.

"Ruby, stay with me!" she said; between sobs

"Well, this wasn't suppose to happen." Ruby said; before losing consciousness.

"Ruby, please don't leave me."

"Please don't go."

"You're my best friend."

"I-I love you."

 **A/N: Will Ruby survive her first confrontation with the Mannequin? Who is the Mannequin? And how will Yang react to Ruby's predicament? All may be revealed in the next chapter.**

Continued in part 2


	2. Chapter 2

"That Night" Part 2

Later that night Ruby was rushed to the Vale ER; and was put through various surgeries to save her life. After the doctors were done they wrapped up her right arm to the point that you could only tell it was an arm by its shape and location. Her ankle, finger, and torso were even worse than her arm. The ankle was fractured in five places; while her finger needed to be put back into place; and then wrapped. Lastly her ribs and back were almost completely pulverized.

Weiss had been told by the doctor that Ruby was lucky that she wasn't paralyzed. However, a still unconscious Ruby was anything, but lucky. Weiss just sat there with a miserable look on her face. She felt like shit; and was trying to hold back another wave of tears. While she was trying to control herself Blake, and Yang showed up. Yang rushed pass Weiss; and went over to Ruby, in a panic.

"What happened?" Yang asked; holding Ruby's left hand.

I took Weiss a second to respond. "I went to the Dentist with Ruby; and at some point she left. The next thing I knew I heard a scream from a near by alley; and recognized it was Ruby. I took off running; and saw Ruby being held by her neck. I ran at the man; and apparently spooked him which caused him to drop Ruby. That's when I called an ambulance; we've been here ever since." Weiss finished.

"Who attacked her?" Yang asked; continuing her assault of questions.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?!" Yang yelled at her. Weiss flinched at how harsh Yang was being; and a few tears started escaping her eyes.

At this point Blake decided to step in. "I think Weiss has had enough for tonight, Yang." Blake said; kneeling down next to the heiress.

"Oh, no she hasn't little miss prissy bitch, needs to tell me exactly who did this." Yang shouted. Blake escorted Weiss out of the room; and told her to wait down the hall for her.

"Good job, letting the only person who knows anything leave." Yang said. Blake did not respond; instead she shut the door to Ruby's room and locked it.

"What are you-" Was all that Yang got out before Blake socked her in the mouth. As Yang was recoiling Blake grabbed her hair and threw her to the wall opposite Ruby's hospital bed. She then planted her heel in the pit of Yang's stomach.

After Yang knew that she couldn't move she stopped trying to resist. "Yang, there comes a point where you cross a line between love; and obsession. You just crossed that line." Blake said. Yang gave her a defiant stare. "Look at her, Yang, do think Ruby would want to know that her sister went berserk; and almost killed Weiss just to get information out of her?"

"No." Yang said.

"I don't think she would either." Blake said; removing her foot from Yang. "Now I'm going to go get Weiss; and you better apologize." Blake said; unlocking and walking out the door.

Yang went back over to Ruby; and grabbed her hand. " _I'm sorry Ruby, I'm so sorry."_ She thought; tears welling up in her eyes. Just then Weiss and Blake returned. Weiss was trying to not make eye contact with Yang as she sat down; arms crossed. They sat like that for a while until Yang spoke up. "I'm sorry I lost my cool back there Weiss."

Weiss looked at her out of the corner of her eye. "I'm sorry I couldn't be that much of a help."

With that they had finished what Yang had started; and turned towards Ruby. She looked more peaceful now that everything had calmed down. Just then they felt the rumble of thunder outside; and the sound of pouring rain followed it. "Sounds like a Monsoon." Blake said.

"And we thought this night couldn't get any worst." Yang said.

Sheets of rain fell down onto the Schnee Dust Company building located in the center of Vale. It was the second tallest building in the kingdom, with the first being Beacon. Atop the buildings stood Mannequin who was looking out over the city. Behind him was a small duffle bag that he opened; and changed his clothes. He put on a black T-shirt; along with a pair of black pants. Over all of that he put on a long, black, duffle coat; and fastened all the laches up to his chin. Finally he pulled his mask off and put it with the rest of his armor.

He was clean shaven; and his red eyes accented his greenish-black hair. As he put the mask away; a bolt of lightning struck the spire at the top of the building. Mannequin stood up as electricity flowed through the tower. It travelled all the way up through his boots to his hands; and conducted there. The super-heated plasma spun around in his hands and then dissipated. "Haha," he laughed. " all elements bow to me." he said. With that he jumped off the building and started plummeting to the ground below.

As the ground got closer he dissipated into black smoke; and then reappeared on the ground. The area he appeared in was devoid of any life; which was weird considering it was located in the business district and was 4 in the morning. Mannequin started to walk down the sidewalk until her heard the signature cocking sound of a Dust pistol. He turned to see six men standing behind him; all brandishing pistols. They moved around him and surrounded him. "Fancy meeting you here, Mr. Glass; or should I call you Mannequin?" the leader asked.

"Jozy will be fine." he said; caring very little.

"So how should we do this nice and slow or quick and easy?" the leader asked; a sadistic smile on his face.

"Which ever one takes the longest so you can answer my question." Jozy said.

"What?"

"First question. What is thicker than water, is a liquid, and can freeze?" he asked.

All six of them looked at each other; a dumb expression on their face. Jozy reached into his pocket and withdrew something before the men could notice. "Do you give up?" he asked. The men stopped talking amongst themselves and nodded.

"The answer is…"

"BLOOD!" Jozy yelled; smashing a blue Dust crystal into the ground.

The men froze and started gushing blood from their joints as the frozen blood vessels burst from the pressure. All six men fell dead in a pool of their own blood. The blood mixed with the rain and made an eerie red swirl on the ground. "You idiots weren't worth the dulling of my blade." Jozy said; walking off as dawn started to break.

Yang had fallen asleep since her last confrontation with Blake. She was busy having a good dream when she was suddenly shaken awake by Blake. "Yang, look." Blake said; a huge smile on her face. Grogley, Yang, looked over to Ruby's hospital bed just in time to see her eyes flutter open. "Hi, Yang." Ruby said.

"Hey, Rubes." Yang said; trying not to cry.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You're in the hospital; you apparently got beat pretty bad in that fight." Blake chimed in.

"Oh, yeah that sucked." Ruby said; grinning.

Ruby surveyed the room; until she saw Weiss half in, and half outside the room. "Nice to know your okay too." Ruby said; giving her a stupid smile. Weiss just rolled her eyes; and went over to the other side of Ruby's bed. "Thanks for not getting killed, you dunce." Weiss said; a stupid smile growing on her face.

 **A/N: Yay for the happy ending in this chapter. Is it just me or is aggressive Blake extremely sexy? It must be just me. Anyway if you were wondering why the Mannequin/ Jozy Glass has a seemingly random Dust crystal in his pocket that's because he is a mage much like Weiss. Well I just wanted to clear that up; see you later FNDM!**

 **Please rate/review/follow.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Questions and Pieces"

A day later Ruby was feeling much better; even though she could not eat solid food. The fact that she could not eat cookies or strawberries were hurting her more than her injuries. None the less Ruby was excited, because Professor Ozpin was coming. It had been forever since she had seen the school headmaster.

Ruby shifted a little in her bed which caused her to gasp a little. At that moment Weiss walked in. She was the only member of Team RWBY in the building. The reason being was that Blake, and Yang had an exam to finish for Goodwitch. "Still hurts?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, just a little." Ruby said; turning toward her.

She looked at Weiss; and was surprised by what she saw. She had let her hair down; and wore a turquoise V-neck T-shirt. She also had on a pair of white skinny jeans that complimented the normally modest girl well. "I love the new look, Weiss." Ruby said, a little too loud.

"Hush, you dolt, and thanks." Weiss said; her face turning crimson.

Ruby put a smile on her face. "So has Professor Ozpin showed up yet?" she asked.

"He's here. General Ironwood is here as well."

"Why?"

"They both have some questions for you." Weiss said. Ruby sat there for a few moments trying to process this information. "Oh." she said.

"Oh yeah, did you hear anything after you went unconscious?" Weiss asked; a little nervously.

"Um, no. I mean was I supposed to." Ruby asked.

"No! I mean I was just wondering if you noticed anything that I may have missed." Weiss said. This left Ruby with a confused look on her face. Truth was Ruby did remember what happened after she closed her eyes; especially what Weiss said, but she figured that it was a talk for another time.

Luckily, Ozpin and Ironwood showed up just in time to save the conversation. "Hi, Professor." Ruby said; grinning. "Good afternoon, Ruby. How are you feeling?" Ozpin asked.

"Well I've been better." Ruby said with a small laugh.

"Of course, its not everyday that a student gets beat as badly as you have and lives to tell the tail." Ozpin said. Ruby wasn't sure if she should be scared or glad she made it. At this point Ironwood tapped on Ozpin's shoulder and whispered into his ear. "Of course." he said. "Miss Schnee could you please wait outside?" Ozpin asked. "Sure." Weiss said; whilst walking out the door. Ozpin and Ironwood turned back to Ruby. "We understand that you were attacked by the 'Mannequin', is this true." Ironwood asked.

"As far as I know yes." she replied.

"What did he look like?"

"It was hard to tell. He wore a mask; and was clad head to toe in some type of armor I've never seen before." Ruby said. Ironwood looked at Ozpin who withdrew a small book from his pocket. "Ruby, what you are about to see are some of Atlas's prototype armor pieces; if you see the armor you saw tell us." he said. Ruby nodded as Ozpin started to turn the pages in front of her.

Half an hour went by while Ruby looked through the book. She finally found a suit of armor that looked like Mannequin's. "This is like it, but it had more pieces." Ruby said; pointing to the picture. Ozpin took the book away from Ruby; and showed it to Ironwood. When he saw the picture, he shook his head in annoyance.

"Of course it was that one." he said.

"Why? What is it?" Ruby asked. Ironwood took the book from Ozpin and read its name.

"It's called Reflex Armor. It was designed to stop Dust rounds, High-impact Dust rounds, and edged weaponry." Ironwood replied.

"So its invincible?"

"Not quite, two weaknesses were listed in its prototype stage." Ironwood said; turning the page.

"It is vulnerable to High-velocity Dust rounds, and stabbing weapons. Much like Miss Schnee's rapier." Ironwood said.

"Well, at least we know what his weaknesses are." Ruby said.

"However, considering that you said, 'it had more pieces.' it means that either the Mannequin, or somebody else finished its final design." Ironwood said.

"Great." Ruby said.

"That will be all Ruby. We'll let you know if we find out anything else about this Mannequin." Ozpin said; abruptly.

"Oh, okay professor."

With that Ozpin and Ironwood left the room; to be replaced with Weiss. "You seem rather twitchy." Ironwood said; walking next to Ozpin.

"It's because of what you told me earlier, James. Are you sure there were more people who stole those suits?"

"Yes."

"Then it's probably best not to worry Ruby any further about this situation." he said; walking off.

Ruby and Weiss were making small talk about what they asked. Ruby also happened to mention how they just abruptly left. "Yeah, that is strange especially for Ozpin." Weiss said. Ruby stared up at the ceiling; and then turned to Weiss.

"Hey, do you sleep with Myrtenaster?" Ruby asked.

Weiss deadpanned. "Ruby, that is so wrong on too many levels."

"Not like that! I meant do you have it near you at all times?" Ruby asked.

"Um, no its usually in its case at night, why?"

"Can you start having it on you at all times, just so I know that you and everyone else will be safe?" Ruby asked; a serious look on her face. Weiss did not understand this, but decided to trust Ruby. "I will." she said.

"Thanks." Ruby said. Just then a wave of exhaustion swept over her. Unable to keep her eyes from closing, Ruby, fell asleep. Seeing this Weiss stood up; and put her hand on Ruby's head. "Sweet Dreams." she said; before walking out the door.

Later that night, Ruby, awoke to her abnormally dark hospital room. She looked at the clock; and knew that it was not time for lights out. The only illumination in the room was an orange door light. Then she saw him. A black figure was sitting across from her with his head down. In his right hand was a long red and black sword; that had the color of molten metal. It was currently burning a small hole in the floor, however, it gave off no heat. "Hello, Petal." he said. Ruby's eyes went wide with fear as she recognized the voice; and the fire-red eyes that met hers. "Mannequin." she muttered.

 **A/N: A little bit more Ruby focused this chapter. I felt it was needed since she was the one getting hurt. Anyway thank you guys so much for reading this; you're awesome!**

 **Please rate, review, and follow.**


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm not cruel, just broken"

Ruby stared at Mannequin; making sure to note his every movement. She noticed that he was not wearing his armor; or his mask. In fact he was wearing a black coat; which was the only thing that she could make out, since it was so dark. "Why are you here?" Ruby said; shifting around in her bed.

"I came to see if your wounds were healing; and since you're awake right now I would assume they are at least close to fully healed." Mannequin said.

"Wow, such heartfelt words from the person who almost killed me."

"I do have a conscience contrary to popular belief." Mannequin said. Ruby shook her head; and laid flat in her bed. "Why did you do this to me? I want the real reason." Ruby demanded; as best as she could.

"I wanted to show you the shame of defeat." he said.

"What are you talking about? I've felt defeated before."

"Have you Ruby? Let me ask you, when was the last time you went into battle and truly lost everything?" he asked. Ruby's eyes moved around trying to deny what she already knew.

"Checkmate, kid." Mannequin said, reclining back in his chair.

"So what if I haven't really lost. I'd say that is a good thing, because it means that more people were saved." Ruby said, angrily.

"Were they saved by you alone, or was it your team as well?" Mannequin said, challenging her directly. Ruby opened her mouth to speak, but shut it knowing that she couldn't argue with him. Seeing that she was not going to speak, Mannequin, stood up and grabbed a bag behind him. He withdrew its folded contents; and placed it on Ruby's bed. Ruby had some difficulty reaching the piece of fabric; but when she did tears started welling up in her eyes. It was her cloak, the same one that her mother gave her. She held it close to herself as the tears started running down her face.

Ruby took a closer look at it and found that a lot of the holes,and tears had been sewn up; and the pins had been replaced. It looked brand new. "You did this?" Ruby asked. Mannequin nodded.

"I looked up to your mother when she was alive; and recognized the cloak."

"Thank you."

"You're an idiot you know." She looked up at Mannequin.

"You charged in recklessly, got your weapon broken, almost got yourself killed, and to top it all off, got the one thing your mother left you stolen." he said. Ruby buried her face into her cloak.

"I meant what I said, you don't deserve to wear that cloak; however, Summer thought you did so I will honor her wish." Mannequin said; as he started moving toward the door.

"Wait!" Ruby said. Mannequin stopped.

"How do I become as strong or stronger than you?" Ruby said; not realizing what she had just asked. Mannequin looked back at her. "What is your worst fear, Ruby?" Ruby didn't understand why he asked this, but she answered anyway. "I don't know, I have a lot of them." Ruby replied. Maybe she was desperate or down right crazy; but she could not live without being anything less than her mother.

"Lose everything that defines you as 'you'." Mannequin replied.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you will be tortured, drugged, raped, and skinned alive before you can even attempt to match me." Mannequin said. Ruby looked at him wide eyed. He moved closer to Ruby; and removed the glove covering his right hand. He showed her the stitches that ran around his fingers. "Those aren't yours are they?" Ruby asked, her face downcast.

"No, so when you tell yourself 'My life sucks' remember I lost more than you could ever know." he said; whilst flipping a piece of paper on Ruby. "What's this?"

"An address so you can find me if you still want to be strong." he said. Ruby nodded; and put on the said next to her bed. "By the way a message will be broadcast tomorrow you might want to listen to it." Mannequin said; walking out the laid there looking at the window thinking about the conversation. " _I'm sorry, mom."_ she thought as another tear rolled down her eye.

Meanwhile Mannequin, had left the area and was walking down a dark alleyway in the center of the city. He approached a manhole; and looked around to see if anybody was watching. Confident that nobody was around; he opened the cover and jumped in. He landed on a catwalk that lead further into the sewer. " _Gotta love that smell."_ He thought to himself . He continued to traverse the sewers until he found an almost hidden door. He knocked on the door; and waited. Suddenly someone said, "Password?"

"Karma's a bitch." Mannequin said.

The door was opened; and two armed men posted up on either side of the door.  
"Welcome back, sir." they said.

"Good to be back." Mannequin said; whilst walking through the door. He was greeted by the sound of shouting men; and blow torches. He continued walking; and found himself looking off a balcony. Down below was a platoon sized force of heavily armed men; and androids. On the ceiling was a spider android that was watching over the activity.

Mannequin continued to make his way down the various halls; and eventually made it to a makeshift control room. He walked in and was greeted by a tall woman with purple hair. She was wearing Atlassian military dress; but had her insignia ripped off. "Hello, Commander Magnolia." Mannequin said.

"Hello, Jozy, I assume you just returned?" she asked.

"I did. So have you gotten our bargaining pieces?" he asked.

"I did." she said; walking to a nearby computer. She started typing; and a video feed came up. Jozy looked at the feed and saw a large amount of White Fang soldiers in chains and under guard.

"Nice, you certainly are a master at your work, commander." he said.

"Thanks, although it was easy, especially since they're training sucks. I believe that finishes the list of stuff you gave me." Magnolia said; turning her chair towards Jozy.

"Good, send a message to my team; and tell them the message is ready to go and they should make their way to Vale within the hour." he said. Magnolia turned back around; and started typing again.

"Also tell them I found the 'Child of Summer'." Magnolia turned around; and raised an eyebrow.

"They'll know what it means."

"Okay, care to share?" she asked, typing the message.

"Actually, let's keep this on a need to know basis." Jozy said. Magnolia nodded; completely focused on what she was typing.

" _Tomorrow everything will begin; or it will all end."_ Jozy said to himself.

 **A/N: Okay guys, thank you so much for reading this chapter. Let's see the reason why I wanted to write this chapter was to show that the Mannequin is still human; and still has emotions. Well that is all I wanted to say. See you later, FNDM!**

 **P.S. Don't forget to leave a review :)**


	5. Chapter 5

"The Message"

Today was the day; and Ruby couldn't be more excited. She would be leaving the hospital today. She had already gotten the cast on her arm removed earlier; and was currently being wheeled out of the hospital in a wheelchair. When she made it outside; the nurse handed her crutches and she stood up for the first time in what felt like forever. She thanked the nurse; and made her way to the curb. As she approached the curb a black sports car drove up. It stopped right in front of her. Ruby opened the door and clumsily fell into the car.

"You trying to break the other one?" Weiss asked. Ruby looked at her with her cheeks puffed out.

"You really don't know when to joke do you?" Ruby asked in mock seriousness. Weiss took it to heart though.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that." she said as she started driving.

"Oh calm down, I know you did mean it. I was just screwing with you." Ruby said; giving her a smile. Weiss rolled her eyes, and focused on the road.

Ruby started to think back to when Weiss changed. Even after she agreed to be the best teammate she could be they still had trouble. However, after that first year Weiss seemed to get more comfortable around Ruby; and even went so far as to spend time with her. Even though Weiss would swear up and down that she was the same. Ruby also found out that Weiss was a terrible liar; she had a terrible consequence of blushing when she was lying, which would make her mad. " _At least he didn't take you away from me."_ Ruby thought.

"Um, Ruby why are you staring at me?" Weiss said; trying to pay attention to the road.

She was ripped from her thoughts by what Weiss had said. " Oh sorry. I didn't mean to." Ruby said; scratching the back of her head awkwardly.

"Dolt." Weiss said. Oh yeah it was good to be home.

Ruby and Weiss made their way to the dorm; and opened the door. The inside looked about the same as it always did, save for a few picture frames and some flowers on Ruby's side of the room.

"Who are those from?" Ruby asked.

"Their from everyone."

"Really?"

"Yes, we had everyone put in their choice of flower; and had them sign the card." Weiss replied. She handed Ruby the card, and Ruby started reading it. Everyone from team JNPR through CFVY had signed the card, even the teachers. Ruby put her hand up to her mouth; as tears started to well up in her eyes.

"Oh my God, I told myself I wasn't going to cry anymore after this." Ruby said; wiping her eyes. Weiss walked up to her and hugged her. "Welcome home, Ruby." Ruby smiled at this until she felt a sharp pain in her previously broken arm. Ruby winced at the pain; causing Weiss to let go a bit. She still stood there Ruby's arms intertwined with hers.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, its still a little stiff."

"Oh I'm sorry."

"It's okay, you didn't know." Ruby said. Just then they heard the door open. Yang walked in; and immediately went wide eyed from the current position she saw Ruby and Weiss in. All three people stood there in an awkward silence.

"Um, bad time?" Yang asked. Ruby and Weiss looked at each other; and quickly pushed each other away.

"I have no idea what you mean." Weiss said; her face a shade redder.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be a bad time, Yang?" Ruby asked.

"Riiiiiggghht, anyway you guys wanna grab dinner?" Yang said; putting her hand on Ruby's head.

"Sure Yang." Ruby then started looking around. "Hey, where's blake?"

"She's helping Professor Oobleck with a project, she said she would be back later." Yang replied.

"Oh, okay." The three of them went to the cafeteria; and got their dinner. It went smoothly, however, Ruby had some trouble cutting her food, because of how much her arm hurt, thus Yang had to help her food. Much to the girl's disdain. They all made it back to their dorm without further incident; and were content with relaxing. Accept for Weiss who was studying. Ruby was sitting on Weiss's bed looking out the window. She appeared to be captivated by the moon as it slowly rose in the night sky. Yang was lying on her bed; listening to music. Yang looked at the clock on the bedside table.

"Welp. I'm going to go take a shower." Yang said; grabbing her pajamas and a towel. "Weiss keep your hands off my sister." Yang said, before walking out the door. Weiss slammed her head down on the desk. Her face very red. Ruby laughed at her reaction; and continued to look out the window.

As she continued looking out the window she remembered what Weiss said that night. "Hey, Weiss?" Ruby asked.

"What is it, Ruby?"

"Thank you for saving me." Weiss got up from her seat; and sat next to Ruby. She hugged Ruby again, this time being sure that she didn't hurt her. "Your welcome, but I didn't know if you would make it or not. I was scared." Weiss said.

"Wow, I never thought I would hear those words from you."

"Oh shut up, you're ruining it." Weiss laughed.

"Weiss, I wanted to tell you that I reme-." Ruby was cut off as a frantic Blake, and Yang opened the door. Weiss stood up unexpectedly fast.

"What's going on?!" she asked.

"No questions grab your gear." Blake said; running over to her bed and grabbing Gambol Shroud from underneath. Weiss turned around; and grabbed Myrtenaster just as an alarm went off. It was deafening at first, but they slowly got used to it. Yang put Ember Celica on; and then went over to Ruby. She climbed up onto Yang's back; and both of them moved to the center of the room.

"Come on everybody's meeting in the auditorium." Blake said. All of them started moving toward the auditorium. As they ran they saw several guards going into vacant dorms and pointing their guns outside.

They finally made it to the auditorium; and they finally saw what was going on. All around the building the holographic signs were going haywire. Every student from first year to fourth year was piled into the room. Team RWBY moved to one of the sides as to not get hurt. This also allowed them to get some information as one of the guard's officers walked passed them. He had a walking talky and was clearly upset. He went over to Glynda Goodwitch who had just arrived.

"Ma'am this is crazy. I'm getting reports from the police department and Ironwood's airship that their Holoscreens are broken as well." he said.

"I know, all the Holoscreens in the city are down as well." Glynda added.

"Ma'am what the hell is going on." he asked.

"We think it's a hack; but we're not sure. Just keep everyone calm until we know something." Glynda said. The guard nodded; and returned to his position. Glynda in turn boarded the elevator; and went back up to Ozpin's office.

"There's no way those screens could be hacked the Schnee Dust Company has seven firewalls specifically built to prevent that." Weiss said; trying to reassure her team. However, just as she said that the power went out. " _Unless they whitewash the central mainframe; and then reboot it."_ Weiss thought; suddenly turning a shade whiter.

"Weiss, what was that?" Ruby asked.

"Th-They just whitewashed the mainframe, which would cause all power to go out and all firewalls to go into 'Maintenance Dormancy'." Weiss said. All of Team RWBY had a panicked look on their faces. As if on queue all of the Holoscreens came back to life. A hooded man was sitting in front of the camera with his head down. Across the whole city the same image was on the Holoscreen.

"People of Vale, six months ago you met me for the first time." A familiar mechanical voice said.

"At that time I killed 17 known White Fang soldiers in the blink of an eye." he said; trying to keep himself from laughing.

"I am the Mannequin; and I have a message to send." Mannequin raised his head up revealing the mask he was known for.

"First, to the Huntsman and Huntresses of Beacon Academy. I am your ally."

"To the Vale Police Department, a gift. Right now a squadron of Bullhead airships are making their way to your position, inside of them are collectively 200 White Fang prisoners all taken from a base to the north." Mannequin explained.

As he said this, everybody heard the jet engines of the airships fly overhead. They were headed to the city center. However, they did not land they started orbiting the police department.

On the ground the police force was pointing their guns up at the vehicles, waiting for what would happen. Up in the airships it was incredibly crowded; and the air was stale. Commander Magnolia, and another cloaked figure were looking at the scene from above. The cloaked figure put his hand into his hood,and moved it to roughly where his ear would be. He then turned to Magnolia.

"You're online, Commander." came a female voice.

"Roger, that."

The bay doors opened; and Magnolia kicked the first prisoner out of the ship. As he fell his parachute activated.

"I hope they don't start shooting." she said.

"Who cares, it will save us the time of killing them later." the girl said.

As this was going on Mannequin was still speaking.

"To the Atlysian Military. Go home, you've overstayed your welcome."

"To the civilian. Relax, you are under my protection."

"To Adam Taurus, and the rest of the White Fang. I have already won. And finally to the woman who took everything from me; Cinder Fall. You will not be spared." Mannequin finished; and started hysterically laughing. The video cut out suddenly; and the lights came back on.

At that point in time Glynda came back and dismissed everyone to there rooms. Team RWBY walked back in silence. In the dorms of the first year students they could hear some of the girls frantically talking to somebody who they thought could comfort them.

"This is a load of crap." Yang said suddenly.

"What do you want us to do Yang? The Mannequin is more dangerous than Cinder Fall. I mean look at Ruby." Blake said. Yang looked at the floor, Ruby was still on her back. Her hair was blocking her face.

"Not only that, but he is insane. Also this is just me, but since he seems to have a personal vendetta against Cinder I really don't see how we lose here." Weiss mentioned.

"It's still not right though. He just took over the entire city!" Yang said. Before anybody could counter her, Ruby, spoke up. "Guys do not hunt the Mannequin, he will kill you." Everybody looked at Ruby.

"We need answers, and I know just where to get them."

 **A/N: Thank you all so much for reading this chapter :D Wow, this chapter was intense, we have just about everything here. We have whiterose hints, chaos, and the Mannequin putting his plan into action. Welp, I hope you guys liked this chapter, see you later FNDM.**

 **Don't forget to review ;D**


	6. Chapter 6

"Retaliation"

The rest of the night did not go peacefully. As the lights came back on, they revealed the horrors around the police station. In panic they had started shooting at the parachutes coming out of the Bullheads. Before the orders came for a cease fire they had already killed half of them.

"Well, you were right they did start shooting." Magnolia observed. The hooded woman next to her; put her hand inside her hood again, and said some inaudible words.

"Your job is done here, Maggy. Now it's my turn." the woman said.

"Roger that, Ma'am. I will see you back at HQ."

The girl jumped out of the Bullhead; and used her aura to land on her feet. She looked around and saw that the street was littered with the bodies of the White Fang soldiers.

" _They are good decoys aren't they."_ She thought; while she stepped over the bodies. She entered the courtyard of the police department; and a multitude of spotlights came to life. They trained on her; and every cop in the department pointed his gun at her.

"Stop right there!" one of them said; on a megaphone. She stopped walking and looked around. The lights cast a shadow over her face rendering it invisible.

"You guys didn't trust us? Oh well looks like I'll have to do it the easy way." she said.

"Squad 2 get up there and cuff her." the commander ordered.

As they got closer she started looking around. " _Glass on the windows, glass on the spotlights, glass in the commander's glasses. I have plenty of ammunition."_ she thought. She then raised her hand in the air causing everybody to stop. Suddenly the windows started vibrating, along with the glass on the spotlights and all other glass in the area. The windows shattered sending glass everywhere. It then started floating and then thrust itself into every police and SWAT unit in the area. They hobbled around until they fell to ground dead from blood loss. The area was now dark; and the woman continued her advance into the central police station, stepping passed the now dead commander, who had his eyes gouged out by his own glasses.

Back at Beacon, Professor Ozpin's office was the literal meaning of chaos. Guards were going back in forth between the headmaster and their squad leaders. Ironwood had arrived an hour after the hack; and was currently trying to get in contact with his scouts in the city. Glynda was micromanaging the security system with Oobleck. Finally Port was leading a group of fourth years through the halls making sure there were no intruders.

"To think a common murder was this powerful, it almost seems like a joke." Ironwood said.

"Well, it isn't that's why we're doing this. Have you gotten anything out of the recon team?" Ozpin asked.

"No."

"Well we just got this sent to us from Team CFVY's Bullhead." Ozpin said; hitting some keys on his keyboard. A few still images came up on screen. It showed the police station being over run by one person. The rest of the images detailed the blood bath that was the result.

"Damn it, that settles it, Oz. We need troops on the ground to combat this threat." Ironwood said. Ozpin knew he couldn't argue with him. Truth be told he wanted troops on the ground.

Ozpin turned to Ironwood. "James do what you have to do to save this city."

"I already have an Atlysian airship en route to the city." Ironwood responded. As he said that the engines of the airship acknowledged the fact that it was flying overhead.

"Maybe now we can end this madness." Ironwood said; looking out the window.

"I certainly hope so." Glynda said; looking exhausted. However, the hope was short lived as the screens started to flicker and distort.

"So this is the response from the Atlysians. Very well, my hand is cast." Mannequin said.

The line went dead. The room shook from an unknown force. Everybody in the room moved to the window. In the center of the city a building was now on fire. They looked in horror as they realized what building it was. The Council Building was burning along with its members inside.

The mysterious woman had progressed into the data center of the police station. The room was filled with various electronics that were all still online. She walked over to a computer and stuck a chip into one of its ports. She punched in several commands that initiated a transfer of its information.

" _Okay, little machine, tell us what you know."_ She thought.

"FREEZE!" came a voice voice from beside her. An officer with a Dust pistol was standing in the doorway that she had just come through. Without skipping a beat she grabbed the whip that was wrapped around her was and cut his head off. The whip was covered in a bunch of rings that had ultrasharp razors welded onto them.

"Thanks for the help, Shadowmancer." she said.

A few minutes later the transfer finished. She retrieved the chip from the computer; and opened a blue scroll, just like the ones they give the students at Beacon. She typed one message on it. "I got it." it read. She sent the message and then proceeded to leave the area.

Mannequin was sitting in the control room of his Headquarters in the sewer. Everybody was busily working to prepare the next stage of his plan.

"Your sister just reported in. She got the data." said a woman in a white lab coat, that had just walked in. told him. She looked to be in her early thirties. Her has was black with red highlights which accented her burning orange one hand she wore a black leather glove, but the other was bare with the only things on it being a wedding ring and an engagement ring. Underneath the coat was a modified version of the Reflex Armor that Mannequin wore. It was a little more form fitting than Mannequin's, but it was also more armored than his.

"Good, have a Bullhead pick her up then tell, Magnolia, to start the evacuation." Mannequin commanded. She nodded her head, and started to walk back out the door.

"Liz." Mannequin said. The woman turned around; acknowledging she heard her name. Truthfully, her name was Elizabeth; but she had earned that nickname well before she ended up here.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I want you on one of the first airships out of here." he said.

She gave him a little smirk. "And what about you?"

"I have a loose end to tie up here. Then I'll meet you there."

"Will the others be there?"

"Yes."

"Good I will see you then." Liz said. She walked out the the door; and Mannequin started turning off monitors, He then went over to the central computer and transferred any data marked important. He then deleted all other data. The lights went out, time to leave.

 **A/N: Hey guys thank you so much for reading this far into the story, I love you all. So what do you guys think of Liz? She is going to be a very important character in the chapters to come. So I hope you like her :) On another note if you guys have any recommendations for the story please do not be afraid to message me; I would love to hear from you guys. Anyway that's enough from me see you later FNDM!**

 **Please don't forget to review, and follow:D**


	7. Chapter 7

"The Tourniquet"

Ruby sat on Weiss's bed, staring at the rest of her team. She had just finished telling them about her conversation with Mannequin at the hospital. She left out the part where she considered the fact that she was weak.

"Did you tell security?" Weiss asked.

"I wasn't in a position to tell them." Ruby replied; not wanting to explain why.

"He didn't hurt you did he?" Yang asked.

"No, Yang, in fact the only thing he did was give me my cloak back; and he gave me a place to find him." she replied.

Yang, and Weiss continued their assault of questions while Blake was sitting patiently. When a lull in the questions came, she took her chance.

"Ruby, why does he appear to be so sentimental towards you?" Blake asked.

"He apparently looked up to my mother."

"That still doesn't explain why he told you where to find him."

"Even if it doesn't make sense at least its a start." Ruby said.

"So let me guess you want to track down the Mannequin using this?" Weiss asked; her face showing signs of agitation.

"Well, yeah."

"Absolutely not." Yang cut in.

"But I can't just ignore this, Yang."

"I don't care, Ruby, this is not a discussion; and if you try to go alone I will tie you to your bed." Yang said; a stern look on her face. Before the conversation could escalate, Blake, cut in again.

"Wait, Yang, let's think about this for a moment."

"You're not seriously helping her are you?" Yang asked; her eyes turning red.

"No, but he let Ruby go for a reason; and he didn't specifically say that she had to come alone." Blake said.

"Yeah, but it still could be a trap for us all."

"Why would he want to trap us all; he could just come here. Even, Weiss, can't argue with why that would be a waste of time." Everybody in the room looked at Weiss. She bit her lip.

"Blake, has a point. We're just sitting here with our thumbs up our asses. If the Mannequin wanted to come get us he could." Weiss said.

"It's kind of funny hearing you curse for a change, Weiss." Ruby mentioned.

"Well I am a lady, so I will curse like a lady." Weiss said; with dignified stance.

All three of them looked at Ruby.

"So what's the plan?" Yang asked; finally giving in. Ruby jumped up from her bed; and went over to the desk. She pulled out a map of Vale.

"Here is the area." she said; pointing at the Vale docks.

"So here's the plan." Ruby started telling the details of her plan to everyone to the very last detail. It took a day to get the plan in motion. The city was still under martial law; but it was oddly devoid of anything resembling the Mannequin's forces. Most considered this a good thing, however, Team RWBY was more frustrated by this than anything.

"He makes a big speech; and then doesn't say anything afterwards. Its kind of pissing me off." Yang said; between bites of her lunch.

"Maybe they're right in saying he left the city." Weiss responded.

"That doesn't make any sense though. Why would you kidnap an entire city and ransack it, without taking anything."

"Maybe he found what he was looking for." Ruby cut in.

"Weiss, what could he have gotten into last night?" Ruby asked.

"With the mainframe down he could have accessed anything. From our scrolls to the Police department data base; everything was _open_ last night." she replied.

"Great and we can't even find him." Yang said, whilst putting her head on the table.

"That doesn't scare me, what scares me is the fact that he or someone else knows how to control a whole city without barely putting any troops on the ground." Blake said, suddenly taking interest in the conversation.

"You do have a point there." Weiss said, nervously rubbing the back of her neck. The rest of the lunch went on quietly. Ruby, however, left early because she wanted to stretch out her now casteless leg. She was a little stiff at first; but made her way to the dorm with relative ease. She started rummaging through her closet, looking for anything she could use as a weapon.

She finally found a black combat knife; and slipped it into the belt on her skirt. She then sat down and proceeded to daydream. Her thoughts went from back home, to her friends, and then to their mission they were about to take on. She got a disgruntled look on her face.

"You look like you're about to kill something." came a voice on her left. Weiss had come in; and started walking towards her.

"Yeah, well I'm just tired of having questions that can't be answered." Ruby said, meekly.

"I think we all are. I mean after this is all over I am going to need a very stiff drink." Weiss said. Ruby got a surprised expression on her face. "I didn't know you drank that heavily.

"Oh believe me, I don't. So what are you going to do about a weapon?" Weiss asked.

"I already got that covered!" Ruby said, revealing her knife. Weiss looked at the knife with a questioning look on her face.

" A-Ah, what's wrong." Ruby asked.

"It's kind of underwhelming compared to Crescent Rose." Weiss said.

"What I know it's not that big, but at least its something!" Ruby yelled. Weiss put her hand over her mouth trying to keep herself from laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" Ruby asked. Weiss put her hand over Ruby's mouth.

"Ruby, your innocence is showing." Weiss said; removing her hand. Ruby gave her a questioning look, and then her eyes went wide.

"Oh my God, that's not what I meant!" Ruby said; removing Weiss's hand from her mouth. Her cheeks steadily grew more red with each passing second.

"Don't worry I know." Weiss said.

The room fell silent as Ruby,and Weiss got lost in thought. Suddenly Ruby started undoing the clasps of her cloak.

"Hey Weiss, will you hold onto this for me." Ruby asked. Weiss was at a loss for words as the neatly folded red fabric was placed into her hands. The same cloak that was with Ruby when they met; was now in her hands away from its owner.

"Ruby, I-I don't understand."

"I already lost it once, and I've seen your closet. I know that it will never get lost there." Ruby brought Weiss into a gentle hug.

"I'm trusting you to not lose it." Weiss returned the hug.

"Don't worry I won't." Ruby smiled at this.

"However, if you do lose it I will burn all your close; and I will cut your hair." Ruby said. She could feel Weiss tense up.

"But, I just bought a new red dress." Weiss said. Ruby raised an eyebrow.

"Really, your dress is more important than your hair." her face deadpanning.

"Well I will admit that my hair is majestic, but it's really hard to take care of."

"You need to get your priorities straight."

The conversation ended with Weiss putting Ruby's cloak in the bottom recesses of her closet. After that Blake, and Yang returned and they prepared for their next class.

Later that night Team RWBY, snuck into the city. It appeared to be deserted it was so quiet, however, upon closer look one could see the heavy presence of the Atlysian military; and their androids. They sneaked through the back alleys in order to avoid the military, since there was a mandatory curfew.

"How far are we from the docks?" Yang asked.

"It's just a little further." Blake said.

All four of them exited the alley way; and came out on the street just outside of the docks.

"Well it's now or never." Ruby said

"Everyone still remember the plan?" Weiss asked.

"Yep." they responded. They entered the docks and went over to a crane on the farthest side of the harbor. Yang started climbing the crane, and Weiss and Blake went on either side of Ruby. They both had weapons that could stab effectively so they were on guard duty. Yang was in an ambush position on top of the crane, waiting to pounce.

What was very weird about the area was that there were no lights. The only illumination was the moon, and its minimal light. Ruby stepped under the crane; and waited for something to happen. Nothing happened however.

"Maybe he is gone." Blake said.

"No he is not." Ruby said.

"He's been here this whole time."

They all started to look around. Ruby took another step forward; and said, "Mannequin?" Suddenly the wind picked up and what appeared to be black smoke flew its way over to Ruby. It landed right in front of her and then materialized into the form of Mannequin.

"Nice to see you again, Ruby. Oh and I see you brought your team too." he said; gesturing to Blake and Weiss.

"Yeah I decided to bring them just in case." Ruby said.

"It is nice to see that you don't trust me."

"You did almost kill me."

"True."

Mannequin looked over Blake, and Weiss he made note of Blake's weapon, and then looked at Weiss's. His eyes got smaller the minute he noticed the type of weapon it was.

"Well ladies you won't be needing those." he said; whilst typing on the keypad on his arm. A loud hissing sound went through the air; and Blake and Weiss's weapon's deactivated. Gambol Shroud folded up and jammed; and the Dust inside Myrtenaster was drained of its energy.

Seeing this, Weiss, started running at Mannequin with Myrtenaster poised to stab him. He moved out of the way, using Dust and kicked her in the stomach. A large amount of saliva came out of her mouth as she fell to the ground. Mannequin picked up Myrtenaster and started poking his fingers with it. He then kicked Weiss back over to Ruby.

"Weiss, are you okay!" Ruby yelled.

"I've been better but I'll live." Weiss said; standing up.

"So you've been trained like I have, huh." Weiss said.

"You are very observant, Ms. Schnee. Now I have a question."

"How did know this would get through my armor?" He asked.

"General Ironwood, speculated that it would work." Ruby said.

"That man really needs to learn when not to give away information, it could really bite him in the ass one day." Mannequin said; putting Myrtenaster in his belt.

A loud metal clang came from above. He looked up and saw what appeared to be a yellow blob coming for him.

"You're going down you bastard!" Yang yelled as she readied her fist. However as she got closer to him she was tackled out of the air by an unknown assailant. She hit one of the steel supports of the crane and landed on the ground. The hooded man landed next to, Yang. He was wearing a black robe with red embroidery all over it. The cloak only went to about his knees, which revealed that he was barefoot.

He flexed his forearm and his reflex armor responded by producing a long blade. He held it to Yang's neck; and pulled his hood off. His head was wrapped up bandages; and the only parts that weren't covered were his yellow eyes; and his spiky white hair.

"No way." Blake said; backing off a little.

The man looked up at Blake; and immediately recognized her. He growled with a strange gurgling sound.

Mannequin looked at Blake.

"Apparently you two know each other. So would you please tell everyone else who this is?" Mannequin asked. Blake looked at her teammates; and then back to Mannequin.

"We called him Tourniquet." Blake stated.

The rest of Team RWBY looked at the man who was pointing the wrist blade at Yang. Tourniquet activated the wrist blade on his other arm and pointed it at Blake. He made another gurgling sound that ended in a roar.

"Apparently, you were supposed to die that night Blake. He let you live if you would remember." Mannequin translated.

Ruby looked at Blake, "What is he talking about?"

Blake looked at her teammates; and then closed her eyes, giving in.

"When the White Fang first started its attacks against the Schnee Dust Company, we operated out of remote bases in the Forever Fall forest." she started.

"We eventually started hearing of our outposts being massacred. At first we thought the government trying to exterminate us. However, all the clues we found suggested only one person did this; which was unheard of." She continued.

"They assembled a strike team to hunt down whoever this was. Luckily one of the security cameras we installed captured a picture of the attackers face. That was when we started calling him 'Tourniquet'." Blake paused for a moment to catch her breath.

"They assembled a strike team, consisting of me and six others. We were tasked to hunt down Tourniquet." Blake paused again. "Two days later it was just me left; and then he found me. I didn't fight him I didn't have the strength. 'I-I just dropped my weapon; and waited for what would come." Blake said; wiping her eyes.

"Then what happened." Ruby asked.

"He retracted his blades; and typed a sentence on his scroll that he had. It said, 'Thank you.' After that we never saw the Tourniquet again." Blake finished.

Suddenly they heard the sound of the blades retract; and turned toward Tourniquet. He helped Yang to her feet; and produced the same yellow scroll that Blake saw that day. He typed a sentence on it. "You were sent to attack, but you didn't. I didn't need to kill you." It read.

"The Tourniquet was sent by me to see if any of you were worth saving. You were the one who proved you were worthy of it." Mannequin said.

Yang moved back over to the rest of Team RWBY.

"So now that that's over why are you four doing here?" Mannequin asked.

"We needed to ask you some questions." Ruby said.

However, before the conversation continued a shot rang out. Tourniquet activated his blades; and destroyed the bullet that was flying towards Mannequin.

"Take cover now!" Ruby yelled out.

They all hid behind a barrier and waited to see what would happen.

"Is is the military?" Weiss asked.

"No it's the White Fang." Mannequin said; giving her back Myrtenaster.

"Team RWBY you either fight with us or against us. Now is the time to decide." Mannequin said.

 **A/N: So what will they choose, hmm? Thank you guys for reading this chapter, love you all. So I was thinking of moving this message to the top of the chapter from now on; because I would like to get the formalities out of the way. Well, I will see you in the next chapter FNDM!**


	8. Chapter 8

"Scapegoat"

 **A/N: Well hello there from my new digs up top. Here we go a new arc with new problems. Just tell yourself it won't get any worse for Team RWBY. Go ahead you have my permission. Anyway thank you guys for reading and don't forget to review :) Okay let's get on with the action!**

The Mannequin, and Tourniquet were hiding behind a concrete wall. Beside them stood Team RWBY; who shooting at the advancing White Fang soldiers. The soldiers were firing back as well causing their cover to begin falling apart. One shot took out a piece of concrete right above Mannequin's head. This sent a bunch of dust and gravel onto his head. Not enjoying getting shot at and almost killed, he turned toward Tourniquet.

"This position is screwed. We need a new one." he said.

Tourniquet started looking around; and saw a bunch of shipping containers adjacent to their position. He motioned towards them with his head. Mannequin nodded; and turned towards Ruby and told her what was going on.

While the Mannequin was doing that, Tourniquet ran across the open ground to the containers. He evaded several volleys of incoming fire; and slid behind one of the large containers. He then knew that he had to buy sometime for the others to cross. He ejected his wrist blades out of his armor; and attached them hilt to hilt, forming a double-bladed sword.

Mannequin saw this and got Team RWBY ready to move. Tourniquet jumped over the shipping containers; and charged the White Fang's lines. Two soldiers started shooting at him. However, he moved with such speed and ferocity that he dodged them without appearing to even think about it. He quickly ended their lives; and moved onto the next.

As this was happening Mannequin and Team RWBY were moving over to the containers. Yang and Blake were sending several volleys of rounds back at the White Fang. As they were doing this they saw an officer pull his pistol and shoot Tourniquet in the head. The round appeared to going right through him without making an impact.

"Holy Crap." Yang said.

"What was that?" Blake asked.

"Who cares we have bigger things to worry about." Mannequin responded; strategically dodging the question.

"Tourniquet has them panicked, now would be the time to strike." Mannequin said.

"I agree." Ruby said; pulling out her knife.

With that they left their cover to join Tourniquet.

Ruby and Weiss went first, speeding past the White Fang. They started stabbing them before they could even react to them, thanks to Ruby's semblance and Weiss's Dust. Blake and Yang started engaging the White Fang in close quarters, causing them to drop their rifles.

Amidst the chaos Mannequin calmly walked in between the dead bodies. This was home. He withdrew his red sword and coated it in purple Dust. Three White Fang soldiers ran up to him as he was doing this. Each one of them was carrying two swords each.

"You know I would rather not waste my Dust on you. However, your screams will be payment enough." Mannequin said; jabbing his sword into the ground.

A purple sound wave ripped through the air; and deafened the soldiers. Each one of them put his hands up to his ears; and screamed upon realization that their ears were bleeding. Mannequin started to walk toward his next battle, however, the same sniper who shot at him before shot again. He blocked the bullet with his sword and it appeared to be absorbed within the sword itself. It started radiating with an orangish glow; and a trigger popped out of the hilt. Mannequin fired; and a red bolt of energy came from the sword. It hit the sniper and he slumped down to the roof on which he was standing. Steam was coming from wear his head used to be.

Elsewhere, Weiss was bouncing around on her glyphs harassing the White Fang. She would stab one soldier every time she hit the ground. In turn it made her very predictable. Eventually one soldier hit her in the stomach; and staggered her. He pointed his rifle at her and was about to shoot her; however the only sound that Weiss heard was the clatter of the rifle hitting the ground. Tourniquet had arrived and cut the soldier's arms off. He slumped to the ground and bled out. Weiss's white outfit was now stained with blood, but she figured that it was better than losing her life.

Blake and Yang were busy dealing with another wave of reinforcements that had just arrived. Both were getting very tired; and were covered in blood as well as sweat.

"They won't stop coming." Yang said.

"Yeah, and I'm almost out of ammo." Blake added.

As they said that another squad showed up and immediately opened fire. They dove behind another set of shipping containers; and waited for when they would stop firing.

"Where is help when you need it?" Yang asked.

"Standing right behind you." Mannequin said; a black cloud blowing off of him.

"Wow, when did you get there!?" Yang said in alarm.

" Just now, and it looks like you need some help."

"I'm still not sure you're what I would consider help."

Mannequin ignored her and started walking out from behind the containers.

"What are you doing?" Blake asked.

"Just watch." he replied.

He stepped out from behind the container; and the White Fang immediately started firing. The Dust rounds impacted the ground; and everywhere around the Mannequin. The shots that did hit him were bouncing off his armor. Seeing that they were having no effect, the White Fang, started to panic.

"Come on, don't tell me that's all you've got." Mannequin taunted.

Suddenly he appeared to teleport to one of the soldiers; and broke his neck. He then moved to another one and stabbed him whilst dousing another in fire. The White Fang seemed to wither away while he was fighting them.

"Holy crap." Yang said; absorbed in the display before her.

Blake grabbed her arm. "Come on, let's go help Ruby and Weiss."

Yang nodded; but before they could leave they were blown back by an explosion. Both hazily started getting up.

"You guys are literally the most annoying group of people, I could of ever been cursed with." A familiar voice said.

Mannequin was busy fending off three soldiers when he saw Blake and Yang get hit. He then slashed all three of them and started walking over to the perpetrator

"So you decided to show up, Roman, you masquera wearing bastard." Mannequin said; dragging the tip of his sword on the ground.

"Oh Mannequin, if you knew how to pull fashion off people would like you." Roman said; pointing his cane at him.

Mannequin continued to walk towards him, until he fired.

The round impacted him and enveloped him in fire. Team RWBY and the Tourniquet turned and looked at the fire ball. Mannequin emerged from the smoke virtually unscathed. However, the metal exo skeleton that covered the extent of his right arm was now sparking. He broke it off with his sword; and then took up a defensive stance.

"Now would you like to hit me with something that could actually hurt me?" he asked.

Torchwick ran at him, and started launching strike after strike at him with his cane. Mannequin skillfully parried his cane; and tripped him.

"If that's all you got then this should be over quick." he said.

Roman used the Mannequin to pull himself up. He then locked his cane with Mannequin's sword.

"Please if I was that bad; I would be out of a job." he said.

Both pushed off of each other; and then clashed again.

Meanwhile Team RWBY and Tourniquet were still fending off the remaining White Fang. Yang and Blake were back in the fight; after a brief period of rest. However, Ruby and Weiss's stamina was starting to twindle. It took everything they had to to start running again.

Weiss looked even more pale than she already was; she also started sweating profusely. She was about to use her speed boost again, however, Tourniquet grabbed her rapier and stopped her.

He handed her a canteen; and raised his hand. It turned into a translucent mass of water. He then hosed her off with a stream of water coming out of his hand. She was now sopping wet; and rather stunned at what just happened. She regained her composure quickly; and felt herself cool off.

"Thanks." she said.

Tourniquet responded with a low gurgling sound; and then ran off. Weiss took an awkward sip from her canteen and then rejoined the fight.

Ruby was busy running through the White Fang lines; harassing them even further. She sped past three soldiers; and slit their throats. She rejoined Blake and Yang; and turned toward the front line. There were very few White Fang left.

"I think we're almost done." Ruby said.

"I hope so, I'm out of ammunition." Blake said.

Suddenly they heard the weaning of jet engines overhead. An Atlysian bullhead was orbiting the area. Tourniquet saw this; and let out a hollow yell. He then turned into a mass of water; and flowed his way into the bay.

Tourniquet's yell caused the Mannequin to look up from his fight. He then turned to Roman and kicked him away from him.

"Well ain't that a bitch." he said; whilst coating his sword in red Dust.

He then shot the engine of the Bullhead, blowing it up. The airship spun out of control until it crashed into the bay. Mannequin transformed into a bunch of black smoke; and appeared next to Team RWBY.

"What was that?!" Weiss yelled.

Mannequin ignored her; and went over to Ruby.

"Get your team out of here." he said, hastily looking up to the sky.

"What why?" Ruby asked.

"You don't know do you? The military has a curfew in place anybody who is on the streets is to be shot on site." he responded.

Ruby's eyes went wide as she realized what that truly meant. Mannequin turned into black smoke again; and flew off into the sky. Ruby ordered her team to follow her and they started running toward the exit. However, before they could leave two military vehicles blocked the road. Ruby cursed and started running the other way. All while the military started shooting at them. They eventually found themselves barricaded inside a warehouse.

"Is Ironwood fucking insane?" Yang asked.

"Don't swear, Yang." Ruby said.

Yang sat down and put her head into her hands. They were out of options. Ruby looked around and saw her team beginning to unravel. She looked outside again; and saw that even more soldiers had arrived. She closed her eyes; turned back to her team.

"Blake take Yang and Weiss, and jump into the bay.' Ruby said.

Her whole team looked up at her.

"W-what are you saying? You're our leader you should be the one to do it." she said.

"Not anymore. I got you all into this mess and all the blame will fall on me. From now and until I get back you're the leader." she said.

A single tear ran down Ruby's face.

"You can't be serious. Snap out of it Rubes." Yang said; standing up.

"Yang look at me. My leg is shaking."

Yang looked down and saw that her previously broken leg was shaking; and barely on the ground.

"I can barely stand much less run or swim."

Ruby was now sobbing; and walked up to Yang. She hugged her with all her might.

"You've been a great sister. So please just this one time, let me go."

It was Yang's turn to start sobbing as she hugged her back. Ruby then turned to Weiss who was as still as stone. She walked over to her and grabbed her collar. Weiss was completely surprised by this;and stiffened up. She was surprised again when Ruby just barely touched her lips with hers; and then pulled her into a hug. Weiss felt disappointment and sadness well up inside of her.

"You'll get the rest when I get back." Ruby whispered.

Suddenly Weiss couldn't hold her composure anymore; and started crying into Ruby's shoulder. Ruby moved her away from herself; and turned towards Blake and nodded at her. Blake grit her teeth and nodded back. She grabbed Yang and Weiss and started running toward the back of the building. Ruby tried to compose herself; and stood in the corner of the building.

The military started beating on the door; and Ruby started reminiscing about the events that had taken place up till this point. Suddenly the door was broken down; and she put her hands up. She could feel the presence of the soldiers surround her. She waited for the gunshot that would would end her life. However, the only pain she felt was the butt of a rifle hitting her head knocking her out. She was loaded into an armored vehicle which quickly sped off.

Mannequin and Tourniquet were standing atop the SDC skyscraper. The sky was a light show of lightning as another monsoon was about to hit. Both of them were looking at the police convoy that Ruby's vehicle was a part of.

"Send a message to Fragile and tell her about what just happened." Mannequin said.

Tourniquet started typing on his scroll.

"Also send a message to Tyler; and tell him he is to return to base."

Tourniquet finished typing all this and sent them to their recipients. Suddenly a Bullhead arrived. It was painted black and had buffers on its engines. Mannequin and Tourniquet boarded the airship and flew off into the storm.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Okay first things first yes I know this chapter is very short, but I do have a plan so don't worry. So I got asked for more whiterose fluff, and I just wanted to say I'm sorry. Don't lose hope though I got this. So that is all I wanted to say, don't forget to review, follow and favorite.**

 **Due to the graphic nature of this chapter viewer discretion is advised.**

"Lose everything, and fall"

Ruby awoke with a piercing headache. At first her vision was blurry, but it cleared quickly. She found herself in a dark room with two Atlysian soldiers. When Ruby tried to rub her eye she found that her hands were cuffed so tight that they were cutting into her skin; and caused her to bleed. She winced at the pain; and quickly put her hands back into her lap.

"Hey where am I?" she asked.

The soldiers ignored her and continued to stand there. " _You could at least say something to each other."_ Ruby thought.

She started looking around; and found a clock hung on the left wall. She saw that it was almost seven in the morning. " _God, my team must be worried sick about me."_ The door to her room opened and a tall muscular man entered the room. He was obviously military since he had on an Atlysian uniform.

"Follow me." he said to the two soldiers.

Ruby was wrenched up to her feet; and was lead to another room and was sat at a table with a bright light shining on it. She felt a feeling of deja vu minus the cuffs.

Another man entered the room. He was tall, and lanky with white hair. He was clearly in his late sixties.

"The whore is awake." The muscular man said.

Ruby's eyes went wide at what he called her. She had never been called a name like that before. She had no reason to be called it.

"Thank you, colonel." the older man said.

He then started thumbing through a file he had brought with him.

"Ms. Rose why are you such a pain in the ass?"

"I never knew I was." Ruby said; not enjoying the way she was being treated.

"Over the past two years you and your team have been involved in over 30 different cases involving the White Fang. Not only that you were just found collaborating with the Mannequin."

"I was not collaborating with him."

"So I take it you just decided to waltz into a battlefield; and you just so happened to meet him and the Tourniquet there."

"Look I don't know what you have been told, but we were not conspiring against the city with the Mannequin."

"It doesn't matter the only reason why we're having this conversation is because it's mandatory under law. After we leave here you are at the mercy of our military; and you've already been proven guilty. Say goodbye to your friends, your team, and your freedom because you will be rotting inside of a maximum security prison for the rest of your life." He said; leaving the room.

Ruby sat there, her face downcast. She was about to lose everyone. " _What did I do to deserve this?"_ A single tear fell onto her sore wrists; and caused them to burn like fire. She was then lead back to the room from whence she came. She laid there for a while in utter silence. Luckily the guards had removed the handcuffs.

Suddenly what little light that was in the room went out. She jumped up; surprised that she was in pitch darkness.

"Hello?" Ruby said.

Nobody answered so Ruby eased back a little; until she felt a hand grab her shoulder. Ruby tried to move away in alarm; but it was too more pairs of hands grabbed her and tore her clothes off. She was thrown to the floor; and raped again, and again, and again, and again, and again. It went on for hours. Ruby was out of stamina; and out of tears. Eventually they finished; and beat her until she could barely stand. Her limp body was then carried to another room.

This room was bleached white. The floors were porcelain, along with the walls, and the ceiling. As she was dragged the blood on her feet stained the floor. She was set in a small wooden chair; and had her arms and legs tied to the chair. She was then left there for a while and fell unconscious. She awoke to the sound of cutting. She felt a pain in her foot; and then only realized that the colonel from before was cutting her toes off.

She let out a scream that echoed throughout the room. The colonel covered her mouth.

"Yes Ruby scream all you want, but wait until you see what a monster you've become." He said; licking the blood off of the pliers he was using.

Ruby looked down in horror as she saw her toes not only heal, but grow back. She looked up at the colonel who had a sadistic smile on his face.

"It looks like your semblance has evolved turning you into the most delicious participant ever."

He then blindfolded her and continued cutting her toes off. Then her fingers and then went back to her toes again.

The only thing she could feel was pain. Over, and over, and over, and over ,and over again. She was going crazy, going numb. She started contemplating what it would be like to just die.

"Why don't you just kill me?" she asked.

"Now where would the fun in that be? If you're dead how would you bleed; and how would you scream?" He asked.

Suddenly he pried open Ruby's mouth and pulled out one of her molars. She let out another gut wrenching scream; before the blindfold came off.

"If you'll excuse me I have to step out for a minute." he said.

When he left Ruby hung her head down; and saw something that would scare any woman. She was bleeding profusely from between her legs. " _So that's why I feel numb down there."_ She thought; absent mindedly.

She started to closer her eyes again; but quickly opened them. However, the room looked much different. It was very dark; and she was surrounded by mirrors. She could see a full 360 degrees around her beaten, naked, body. The floor was a garden of red, white, black, and yellow flowers. However, in front of her was a patch of orange flowers.

Someone was standing inside of them. His back was turned to her; but started turning the minute she noticed him.

"Hello Summer's child." he said.

Ruby immediately recognized the voice.

It was Mannequin.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: All aboard the RWBY Volumn 3 hype train! So I've seen the finished art for Winter Schnee, and all could think of was: damn. Some of you may not know this but Weiss is my favorite character from RWBY (second is Adam BTW). When I saw that art I just couldn't you know. It also doesn't help that I am a sucker for female characters who are drawn well :/ Takes a breath * Thank you guys so much for the support on this story. I love you all. Now back to the chapter.**

 **Don't forget to Review, favorite, and follow ;)**

"Reflection"

He walked over to Ruby; and put his hand on her cheek. Ruby finally got a good look at him; and realized that his green and black hair was now white. She also noticed that his eyes were now gold instead of red.

"You look in pain, Ruby. That's hilarious." he said.

"Why are you here? Why won't you let me go?" she asked; stray tears running down her face.

He cupped her cheeks. "Hush now, the master has returned." he said.

Suddenly the light brightened and she was brought back to the White Room. In front of her stood the Colonel, who was brandishing a very large knife in his left hand.

"Do you know why I love these white walls Ruby?" he said; moving towards her ear.

"It's because no matter what happens I can see every speck of blood that falls on the ground!"

He then cut off her ear and then the other one. Ruby let out a massive scream as this happened. He let her ears heal and then kicked her chair over.

Ruby's head hit the ground hard causing her to see stars. She then felt her skin touching the pool of her own blood that she had landed in. It coated one side of her face and soaked into her hair. The colonel then placed his knife over Ruby's eye.

"Tell me Ruby. What do you think I'm going to do with this knife?"

"Please don't." she said; another wave of sobs hitting her like a truck.

The knife hovered over her eye for what felt like an eternity. It was then plunged into her eye; Ruby let out another loud scream as her eye was removed. He threw it away and removed the other too. Ruby's tears were now mixed with blood.

"Yes, cry make your pain WORSE!" he yelled.

Her eyes started to regenerate; but for the moment she still couldn't see.

She was suddenly back in the room with the mirrors. However, they were all blacked out by fabric.

"Good Morning." Mannequin said.

Ruby looked down and found him lying parallel to her.

"Man I must admit that Colonel's got some style." he said.

"Why are you here."

"Because I'm you."

Ruby looked up and this time saw a reflection of herself. Her eyes went wide in disbelief.

"You're not the Mannequin are you."

"You finally got something right. I'm so proud."

"So who are you?"

Her twin disappeared; and transformed back into Mannequin. His hands gingerly snaked around Ruby's head; whispered into her ear.

"I'm that little voice in your subconscious that wants to watch everything burn. The one who you don't want anyone to know about."

Ruby was sucked back into reality by a sharp pain. Her eyes had regenerated and saw that the Colonel's knife was buried deep in her stomach. He then stabbed her seven more times and then stabbed her in the knee. He twisted it over and over again. This elicited a scream from her every time it turned. Her wounds had already begun healing.

"Yes Ruby. Does it hurt? Does it feel like you're going insane?" He laughed.

He grabbed Ruby's head; and brought his other hand up to her ear.

"If not I'm sure this will help."

He opened his hand and shoved a rapier wasp in her ear.

Ruby could feel the insect claw it through her ear canal. Then it happened. It started sting her violently. Ruby started laughing and struggling in her chair. She then hung her head low. She felt the soft touch of female hands run through her hair. She started smiling.

"Weiss is that you? I'm so glad to be home."

She looked up and found it was Mannequin who was holding her head. He had a smirk on his face.

"Who is Weiss?" he asked.

Ruby was at a loss for words. Had she just mistaken Mannequin for Weiss?

Mannequin saw that he was not going to get an answer and started looking at the mirrors in the room. They were uncovered again.

"Is this her?" he asked; breaking the mirror.

Ruby was suddenly transported into her dorm room. It was the middle of the night and Weiss was staring outside their window. She was softly singing; and Ruby was listening to it intently.

"What night is this?" Mannequin asked.

"This was a year ago, the first time I had ever heard her sing."

"Sounds lovely."

"It was. I had just woken up from a nightmare; and she was very concerned. She sang me to sleep that night."

"That is really sweet. To bad you ruined it all, and killed yourself."

"What are you saying?"

"Look Ruby your weakness is killing you. You're letting that beast of a colonel ride you like a slut. You wanted to be stronger; so you sought the Mannequin. But you didn't banish the one thing that would make you stronger. You let the pain get to you and abandoned your team, and now you will see the consequences of this."

The light in the room went out and then came back on. Weiss was standing there with a gone in her hands. Ruby ran towards her.

"Weiss!" she yelled; a smile growing on her face.

"Why did you make me a promise you couldn't keep?"

Ruby stopped dead in her tracks.

"Oh well it doesn't matter now. Nothing matters now."

She put the gun up to her head and fired. Ruby screamed and went over to Weiss and held her in her arms. She started crying.

"She trusted you the most. You made a promise you can't keep in this form. She will wait for you until she gives up." he said.

Weiss's body then disappeared; and left Ruby sobbing on the ground.

"Why are you crying? This is what you chose, Ruby." he said; wrapping his arms around her.

Ruby was done. She moved out of his grasp; and elbowed him in the face. He landed on his back and was pinned down by Ruby. The flowers next to him turned orange upon contact.

"I didn't choose this. I was given this and I refuse to take it." She said.

"Do you have that kind of strength?"

"I do."

"What will you do?"

"I will go back home and get my revenge on the person who imprisoned me."

"So are you saying that you accept me?"

"No, I'm going to surpass you and be stronger than the Mannequin and everyone else."

Around them, all the flowers turned orange; and the mirrors started cracking. The mirrors started falling from the walls one by one.

"Yes that will be enough. Ruby kill and survive." he said; summoning a knife to his hand.

Ruby took the knife and stabbed him with it. She suddenly felt an immense surge of power course through her. The Mannequin's body absorbed into Ruby. She stood up; and looked in one of the broken mirrors. Her eyes were jet black; and her pupils and irises were glowing an orangish gold. The last mirror broke and she was back in the chair. The colonel was still torturing her, however, Ruby couldn't feel it. She was going to get out and she was going to get back home.

He left the room; and was now accompanied by four armed guards. It's show time.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Welcome back to RWBY: Darkfall FNDM! So I just wanted to say thank you for all the support. So I started writing this chapter soon after the last one, and I must say I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Remember to review, follow, and favorite and if you want to talk about the story go ahead and message me. Well that's enough from me, I will see you guys in the next chapter.**

"The monster in me."

"Unfortunately Ruby our special fun time has to come to an end. These men are going to take you to the outside world, where you will formally be incarcerated by General Ironwood." the colonel said.

Two soldiers went on either side of Ruby, while the other two waited for the colonel to release her. Ruby still had her head down; her black and red hair blocked out any image of her eyes.

"However, there is still time for one more thing."

"Colonel Van, with all do respect, the general wanted her out as soon as possible." one of the soldiers said, revealing the colonel's name.

He was just about to start argueing with the soldier, but was interrupted by Ruby. She started chuckling, "You really are a small man with small toys. You must like playing house."

"Why you!" he yelled; about to hit her.

Ruby caught his hand in her mouth and bit down _hard_. She started tasting his blood and went even crazier.

Colonel Van ripped his hand out of her mouth and left some of his fingers behind. Ruby spat out the appendages and turned her attention to the soldiers. She broke out of her bindings and grabbed the two soldiers closest to her with her hands and feet. They were so surprised by her speed that they couldn't react in time. She twisted herself in a way that she broke both their necks in one motion. However, she also broke her own ankles in the process.

She sat down and cracked them back into place, They were immediately healed afterwards.

"Did you think that after everything you've done to me something like that would hurt?"she asked.

A loud yell came from her right. A soldier was haphazardly running at her whilst shooting his rifle. He missed every shot, much to Ruby's amusement.

When he got close enough she swatted his rifle away and started punching him in the chest over and over again. She broke every one of his ribs through his armor; and finished him off with a karate chop to the throat. He fell to the floor gasping for air; and coughing up blood.

Seeing what had just happened to his comrade the final soldier charged at her; and attempted to tackle her to the ground. Ruby turned to him and plunged her hand into his stomach. Her hand went through his armor and came out his back. She then withdrew her hand and brought it up to her face. It was soaked in blood and bile. It also appeared that most of her fingers were broken from the amount of force needed to tear through the soldier.

She started cracking her fingers back into place and smacked herself on the side of her head. She removed the rapier wasp from her ear and crushed it in her hands. Ruby then scanned the room for Colonel Van. He had coward to a corner in the room.

"Stay back. Don't you dare come any closer." he said; pointing one of the soldiers guns at her.

Ruby used her semblance to speed toward him and grabbed him by the throat. She lifted him a full foot off the ground.

"Does it look like I give a fuck about what you tell me to do?" she asked, throwing him to the floor.

He started to crawl away until Ruby crushed his leg with her foot. He let out a cry of pain that echoed throughout the room. She then got on top of him and grabbed the back of his head. She bit her middle finger causing it to bleed.

"You know Mr. Van you are right, blood is delicious. Would you like to taste your own?" she asked.

She then smashed his head into the floor over and over again. It was left as a bloody pulp.

Ruby stood up shakily; and had to brace herself up against the wall. Black smoke was coming out of her eyes. She fell unto her knees and looked up to the ceiling. Her eyes returned to their normal silver color. She immediately felt nauseous and threw up a composition of blood and vile.

She started crying and out her hands up to her face. " _I have become a monster."_ She then removed her hands and found that her tears were also mixed with blood. As she was sitting there two guards entered the room.

"What the fuck happened!?" one yelled, seeing the room.

He went and started checking the bodies. The other went over to Ruby and knocked her onto her stomach he handcuffed her.

"They're all dead." the one said.

"Oh well report it later, we have to get her to main stage fast." the other said.

Ruby was hastily put under a shower and had all the blood removed from her. She was then dressed equally as fast in a green jumpsuit. She was loaded up in a military/police convoy and was brought to the center of the city.

She was yanked from the car she was in and almost thrown onto the stage. Around her was a large crowd of citizens who had come out to see the alleged traitor. On her right stood a hologram of Ironwood.

As he began to give his speech she noticed that her team was also in the crowd. They all had worried expressions on their faces. Ruby looked at the world with cold, dead eyes. She then fully understood why she was here. She was the scapegoat the Atlysian military needed to say that they got the one responsible for letting the Mannequin get so much power.

She clenched her fist in anger at this.

"She will be held at Silk Sands maximum security prison. This is where she will live the rest of her days away from society." Ironwood said; concluding his speech.

Ruby's blood was boiling at this point. She was then hit in the back, signaling her to move forward. She was tempted to turn around and drive her fists right into the soldier's chest, but stopped when she saw her team again.

Yang was obviously outraged by this; Blake's face was full of sorrow; and Weiss had visible tears trailing down her face. Ruby calmed down and knew deep down what she had to focus on; getting home.

Filled with a new sense of determination she continued to walk with her head up. She was loaded onto a bus filled with at least a dozen other prisoners. She took her seat next to the window and stared out at the crowd.

She felt someone sit next to her, but she didn't bother to look at who it was.

"Hey red." a female voice said.

Ruby turned and saw a very familiar face. It was Neo.

"Uh hi." Ruby said; taking a good look at Neo.

She was wearing the same jumpsuit as her and had her hair back in a ponytail. Speaking of her hair it was no longer two tone pink and brown, it was in fact a deep blue. It kind of looked like cottoncandy. Neo started shifting in her seat uncomfortably.

"Sorry, I like your hair." Ruby said; awkward as ever.

Neo gave her thanks and the bus started pulling away. This was going to be a long ride.

The cold desert winds blew around the Mannequin. He was over looking a dirt road that lead to Silk Sands prison. Behind him stood around twenty soldiers all draped in red cloaks. Tourniquet walked behind him and made a gurgling sound. Mannequin turned around and started to address the men.

"Members of the Sequoia Tree, tomorrow a military convoy will be passing through this region. With them is a very special target." He started.

Tourniquet handed him a picture; and he held it up.

"This is Ruby Sunset Rose, she has been wrongly accused by the Atlysian military. So we are going to rescue her. Any questions?" he asked.

One soldier raised her hand, "Sir, are there any secondary objectives that we need to be aware of."

"Standard secondary objectives are still in place. So any able bodied men and women are to be taken as well."

"So what kind of response can we expect from the military, Commander?"

"You will have five minutes before the military units at the prison will respond. So your window will close fast."

Yet another soldier raised his hand.

"Will the Fragile be accompanying us?"

"The Fragile will remain at base and be overwatch for us, passed that she will not be partaking in this battle. However, Tyler has just returned from Atlas and will be participating as well as the Tourniquet and I." Mannequin said.

The soldiers started talking amongst themselves. The talk went on for a minute, and then one raised his hand.

"So it's true then, the Phantom has returned?"

"Yes he has, so don't disappoint." he said.

With that the meeting ended; and the soldiers started filling back into a nearby cave.

The Mannequin was alone with Tourniquet and continued to overlook tomorrow's battlefield. He suddenly felt a shiver run up his spine and turned around.

"You know that armor's camouflage won't work on me. I am a mage after all." Mannequin said to the air.

Suddenly a tall hooded figure dressed in a long black cloak appeared; seemingly out of thin air.

"Hello Tyler."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Welcome back to RWBY: Darkfall. Well I don't really have a lot to say in this as I have not done anything interesting. So please just review, follow, favorite. That is the easiest way for you to get in contact with me if you have questions about the story. Well that's enough of me, back to the story :)**

"The Phantom"

The sun rose high in the sky over the Deathwind Desert. The desert was located halfway between Vale and Mistral; and was known for being extremely cold at nights.

Ruby had her head leant against the window of the prison bus, fast asleep. Next to her Neo was looking at her fingers and playing with her hair. In front of the bus was a military truck with a large dust cannon on top of it. Another one was driving behind them. A sudden bump rocked the bus and woke Ruby.

She sat up groggily and looked around. She did not recognize her surroundings at first, but then remembered the events of the previous day.

"Where are we?" Ruby asked, stretching her stiff neck.

"The Deathwind Desert." Neo replied.

"Oh great, now we can freeze to death before we get there." Ruby said, sarcastically.

"I wouldn't put it passed them." Neo said; pointing to the two guards conversing.

They were armed to the teeth; and had more ammo on them than any smart person would carry. The driver was armed as well with a pistol on his calf; and a rifle next to his chair.

"Yeah, they look like the sadistic type." Ruby commented.

"But we do still have to find a way out." she continued.

Above them, hovering around 100 meters high was a stealth bullhead. Inside was the Phantom and Commander Magnolia. They were watching the convoy; and waiting for the right time. Suddenly Magnolia's scroll vibrated; and she grabbed Phantom's shoulder.

"Are you ready?" She asked.

"I was born ready." he said; removing his cloak.

Underneath his cloak was his reflex armor. It was one single piece that went from his boots to his gloves. On his head he was wearing a helmet that had a see through blast shield on the front of it.

A skull shape was carved onto the blast shield. This served as his mask. On top of all that he was wearing a full body exoskeleton, very similar to the one Mannequin has on his leg.

A buzzer started counting down; and when it hit zero he jumped out of the Bullhead. It then blasted off and returned to base. It passed over the Mannequin and Tourniquet who were on the ground over looking the convoy.

"You ready to fly, Fragile?" Mannequin asked; holding up a drone.

"You bet." A female voice said, from the small robot.

Mannequin threw it into the air and it flew off. It gave the Fragile a complete view of the convoy from her monitor back at their base.

"Well it's time to go." he said.

Hearing this Tourniquet turned into a figure of water and sped toward the prison bus. Mannequin also turned into a bunch of black smoke and started moving towards the prison bus as well.

Meanwhile, Phantom, was halfway to the ground. He saw Tourniquet and Mannequin heading for the still moving convoy. He went into a full dive and burst into flame, furthering his speed boost.

When he hit the road a massive dust cloud was formed from the impact. The first truck hit its brakes hard; and skidded to a halt. The prison bus stopped and almost knocked everyone over.

"Bravo 1, what the hell was that?!" The driver shouted over the radio.

The front truck waited for the dust to clear before responding. The dust cleared revealing the 7 foot tall monster that was the Phantom. The sun was reflecting off of the gold accents on his reflex armor.

"Big motherfucker in the middle of the road!" one soldier in the truck shouted in the radio.

Ruby and Neo heard him over the radio. The two guards were now standing in the aisle; there guns held in their hands.

"What is going on?" Neo asked.

"I don't know, but if we're going to escape now would be a good time." Ruby said, starting to stand up.

However, before she could complete her action the muzzle break of one of the soldiers rifles was jammed into her face.

"And where do you think you're going, Miss Rose? " he asked.

Ruby slowly lowered herself back into her seat.

"Smooth move." Neo said.

The soldier kept his gun trained on the two. Not willing to almost let them breathe.

At the front of the convoy Phantom was still stalling for time. The soldiers had dismounted and were pointing their guns at him. " _Come on where are you guys?"_ he thought.

He looked to his left and finally saw Mannequin and Tourniquet cresting the hill. " _Finally, distraction time."_ He lifted his arm and withdrew a tri-barreled LMG off of his back.

"He's got a gun!" the soldiers shouted; and immediately started shooting. Everything from the Dust cannon to their small arms started firing at him. The rounds bounced off of his armor and fell to the ground. He started firing; and his rounds impacted their vehicle and tore it to shreds. One round ripped off the turret of the Dust cannon; and its operator as well. The soldiers fell to the ground all dead; and missing a few limbs.

"Cheers." Phantom said; stepping over the bodies.

In the bus the guards were panicked; and shouting at one another. Ruby looked out the window on her left; and saw a black cloud coming for the bus.

"No way." she said.

The cloud slammed into the bus; and almost tipped it on its side. Mannequin appeared next to the soldier closest to Ruby.

"Good afternoon." he said, to the soldier.

He then stabbed his sword through him before he could react.

"Son of a bitch." the driver said, picking up his rifle.

Seeing this Mannequin grabbed the dead soldier's pistol; and shot the driver in the head.

"You were a waste of skin anyway." he said; dropping the gun.

A slashing sound was heard from behind him. He turned to see Tourniquet cutting the other guard in half; and removing his head.

"Brutal as always." Mannequin said.; cleaning his sword off.

Mannequin turned to Ruby. "Nice to see you again, Ruby."

Ruby and Neo hesitantly got up and walked into the aisle. The other prisoners were to scared to get up.

"Um, why are you here?" Ruby asked.

"Common I think you know." he said.

"You're here to rescue me?"

"More or less." he replied.

Suddenly the truck at the back of the bus exploded. Mannequin grabbed Ruby and shielded her from any shrapnel. Tourniquet and Neo both dove into separate seats as the truck exploded. They heard the wane of jet engines overhead; and Mannequin instantly knew what it was. He stood up and turned to Tourniquet.

"They took the Rogue didn't they." he said.

A gurgling sound ,and a shrug came from Tourniquet.

"I'm going to kill them." Mannequin said.

He then outstretched his arm. "Come on Ruby. Let's go."

Ruby took his hand and exited the bus with him and Tourniquet. Neo slowly followed behind them.

Outside they were greeted by the soldiers that Mannequin had spoken to the previous night. They were dressed in combat armor and were draped in red cloaks.

"Okay, men all prisoners in there are to be evaluated; and processed." Mannequin said.

"Also detain her." he added. pointing at Neo.

A soldier moved behind Neo and started to restrain her.

"Wait, let her go." Ruby said.

"Why?" Mannequin asked.

"Because if you do she'll owe me." she replied.

Ruby walked towards Neo, and put her hand on her cheek.

"And I intend to collect." she said, looking right into Neo's eyes.

Neo nodded and looked at Mannequin.

"I can agree to that." he said.

The soldier undid Neo's restraints and moved away from her. She did a bow and then teleported away from them.

Ruby was now alone with Mannequin and Tourniquet. Her eyes moved awkwardly from one to the other.

"So why did you guys save me anyway?" she asked.

"Oh yeah, well we-' he was cut off by the Phantom walking up.

He was carrying what remained of the Dust Cannon. The gun was a mangled monstrosity of metal and Dust residue. He felt all eyes train on him; and he looked up.

"I thought we could use this." He said.

"Ooooookkkaaayyy, anyway we wanted to ask you to join us." Mannequin said.

Ruby looked at him quizzically.

"Why should I? You were the one who almost beat me to death." Ruby said; crossing her arms.

"You got me on that one; but it will be a lot easier to get you back on Vale, and Beacon's good side if you help us." he said.

Ruby started thinking about this thoroughly. Unfortunately Mannequin's patience was running thin.

"Ruby, the White Fang and the military are your enemies not us." he said.

Ruby thought about it for another minute, before finally giving in.

"Okay." she said.

Mannequin gave an over exaggerated sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank God now I can take this stupid thing off." he said.

He undid the locks on his mask; and almost threw it off. Ruby stood wide eyed, seeing the Mannequin's face for the first time. His face was drenched in sweat, but beside that he looked normal.

"My name's Jozy Glass by the way." he said,outstretching his hand.

Ruby shook his hand; and then turned to another hand that had lifted. It was the Phantom. She shook his hand as well. Her small hand was almost swallowed by his much larger one.

"My name's Tyler Slate." he said.

"Nice to meet you." she returned.

She then turned to Tourniquet.

"His name is Kale Rogue; and it's probably not wise to shake his hand." Jozy said.

"Umm okay, why?" she asked.

Jozy flicked Kale's forearm; and one of his wrist blades reacted to the pressure. It came out with a sharp metal sound.

"Oh." Ruby said, glad that she didn't touch his arm.

"Yeah, we need to get that fixed." Jozy added.

Just then a black Bullhead landed next to them.

"There's our ride." Jozy said.

All four of them boarded the airship; and lifted off. While they were still hovering another Bullhead arrived; and picked up the other prisoners as well as Jozy's men.

"Okay Ruby, I want to know exactly what happened to you while you were under the military's control." Jozy said; as they flew off.

"O-okay."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Welp, here we go guys an extra long chapter. Sorry this took so long to write, I have been very busy; and this chapter was also longer than the previous ones so that is my excuse. Anyway, I hope you all are doing well; and are enjoying the story. I love you all so don't forget to review, follow, and favorite. On to the chapter.**

"Jack of all trades"

The Bullhead containing Ruby and company flew for around for around 30 minutes before preparing to land. This gave Ruby enough time to tell the story of how she came to be on that prison bus. In that time Jozy had taken his scroll out and was writing down a paraphrased version of her story. He made sure to take down every single wound she described in brutal detail.

As Ruby finished up her story he sent what he had written to a private number; and returned his scroll to its rightful place on his belt. At that point they felt the momentum of the airship decrease significantly.

"We are landing." Jozy announced.

"Ruby, we'll be going to my command table. There I will tell you exactly why your semblance changed." Jozy said.

Ruby nodded as she felt the Bullhead slowly descend. The landing gear deployed; and impacted the ground with a soft thud. The bay doors opened and flooded the interior with sunlight.

Ruby shaded her eyes from the bright sun that was reflecting off of the desert sand. Jozy put on a pair of sunglasses as he exited the Bullhead. Tyler and Kale exited as well. Tyler made sure to grab what was left of the Dust cannon before he left.

They started walking towards the end of the makeshift landing pad. When they reached the end, Ruby, looked in astonishment at what lay before her. Down below was a pit dug in the sand. Inside of it there was a multitude of soldiers either training, or on guard duty.

"Wow." Ruby mumbled.

Jozy chuckled at this. "Welcome to the Sequoia Tree's Headquarters."

Tyler and Kale joined them in looking at the activity. Jozy started to walk down the slope; into the commotion.

"Follow me Ruby. Tyler, Kale you have other matters that need to be attended to." Jozy ordered.

At his command Tyler, and Kale departed to different caves that had been dug out in the pits walls. Ruby walked closer to Jozy as they started descending into what she would assume to be the training grounds.

As they entered she heard screaming coming from the training area. She turned to see a woman yelling at a bunch of men, all standing in a line. She was very tall; and had her hair dyed purple. It was in a braid that went all the way down her back. Ruby then noticed that she had an Atlysian military uniform on, however it had all of its insignias torn off. She was also carrying a katana in her left hand.

"Wait, who is that?" Ruby asked; pointing at the woman.

"That is Commander Olivia Magnolia. She is the head of armed forces; and also helps in training the newer recruits." he said; in a hushed voice.

Ruby nodded; she kind of reminded her of Ms. Goodwitch.

"Are there any questions?!" she half-yelled.

One recruit raised his hand, "Yes ma'am, what cup size are you?"

All the recruits started snickering.

"G." she replied; undeterred.

The recruits looked astonished by her unflinching and calm attitude. Even Ruby was astonished that she answered a question that if she, herself had been asked would have never answered it. She turned back to Jozy, and noticed that he had a smirk on his face.

She then turned to see that the recruit who asked the question was now being held face down on the ground by a soldier. Magnolia had her heel placed on his face and was telling how they needed to learn some respect.

"She's ruthless, but effective." Jozy said; continuing to walk to their destination.

"She's kind of scary." Ruby admitted.

"Don't be scared of Magnolia; she's actually kind of a softy, although she would never admit it." Jozy said.

" _Man, does that remind me of a certain person."_ Ruby thought; her face looking a little crestfallen.

However, the thought left her quickly as she felt something hit her. She looked up to find a woman with black hair and red high lights standing beside her. She was wearing a white lab coat; and was furiously trying to tame her messy hair.

"Oh I'm sorry." she said timidly, before walking off.

"These damn bangs." she muttered; walking over to where Magnolia was located.

Ruby stood there stunned for a second; unable to comprehend what had just happened. She barely even got to look at the woman before she was gone.

"Who was that?" Ruby asked.

"Oh her, you'll get to meet her later." Jozy said.

Ruby raised an eyebrow, but Jozy ignored it. They continued on until they reached a big green tent. It was closed which didn't seem to abnormal to Ruby, but to Jozy it was an all to tell tail sign of what was about to happen. He decided to just let it happen.

When they entered, they stopped dead in their tracks. In front of them stood a woman in a pair of black short shorts. However, the only other thing she was wearing was a black lace bra. Ruby stood there shuffling her feet, with a light dusting of red on her cheeks. Jozy was glaring daggers at the girl, who had just realized that the two were in the tent with her.

"Hi, Jozy welcome back." she said; putting her arms behind her back.

This in turn brought her assets into full view. This one action only deepened Ruby's blush. Jozy slowly started walking forward with his hands cupped over his nose. There was a strong feeling of rage emanating off of him.

"Saffeara?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"How many times have I told you to not change your clothes inside my goddamn command tent?"

"Couple dozen times."

"My point exactly, so don't do it again."

"Or?" she said; taunting him.

"Or I will soak all of your bras and panties in mouth wash, and I will make sure you wear them."

"Sounds kinky."

The banter between them continued with Ruby on the side lines. She made one observation from her current situation: this girl has no shame. The two continued to argue with one another until it calmed down a little, and she put a take top on.

The tank top was small and barely did anything to hide the fact that she was wearing a very sexy piece of lingerie. Not that Ruby minded of course; although she did have her convictions to keep her mind in the right place. She looked over the woman and noticed that her skin was oddly pale. She also had blueish purple hair; and had purple lipstick as well. She then turned to Ruby.

"So you must be Ruby Rose. It's nice to meet you." Saffeara said.

"Its ah, nice to meet you too." she said; still flustered.

Saffeara noticed this and turned to Jozy. She raised her eyebrow with a smirk. Jozy rolled his eyes.

"Saffeara, we need to discuss some things in _private_." he said

She nodded; and exited the tent. Jozy took a seat on one side of a table that had been set in the tent. He closed his eyes and put his hand on his forehead. Ruby took a seat on the chair across from him.

"Well she seems interesting." Ruby said.

Jozy chuckled, "Yeah, you'll get used to her. She's actually a lot more scary than you think."

"So what happened to my semblance?" she asked.

Jozy put his feet up on the table, the metal exoskeleton on his left leg clanking on the table.

"Ruby, how much darkness is inside of a human on average, do you think?" Jozy asked.

"I don't know, not a lot I would guess." Ruby replied.

"You would be correct, however there are some that are darker that most. That's not my point though. So how much do you think is inside of a huntress like yourself?"

"None, we're are supposed to be the champions against the dark."

"That is where you are wrong, typically a huntsman or huntress has more dark in them than you think."

"How is that possible?"

"Depending on how experienced you are; and how many things you've killed, you will eventually see it."

Ruby got a grave look on her face. "So how does that tie in with my semblance."

"When the darkness merges with the light of a semblance, it evolves into a more volatile power. this is called a Primal instance your semblance was speed, well now you can heal faster; and regenerate limbs." Jozy finished.

Ruby sat there for a minute. "How do I control it?"

"You're going to have to find that out for yourself." he said; taking his feet off the table.

Ruby sat there for a moment. "You wanted my help, where do I start?"

"Its true that you are a huntress; and you are also in possession of a Primal Semblance unlike any other, however, with all of the physical trauma you told me about I need you to get checked out first. You also need to be trained, because in a month's time an operation will be conducted involving the prison you were going to." Jozy said.

"Okay, so where do I go to get checked out?"

"There's a white tent outside, that's where our doctor is. Her name is Elizabeth, she'll take care of you." he said, taking out a map from a crate near by.

He set it on the table; and started to stare at it intensely.

Ruby took this as her cue to leave. She stepped outside of the tent and started looking for the doctors tent. It did not take her long to find the tent; and she decided to poke her head in. She saw the same woman who had bumped into her earlier hunched over a desk writing. Ruby decided that staring at her was kind of creepy so she spoke up.

"Um, Elizabeth?" Ruby awkwardly asked.

She stopped writing and turned towards Ruby. Ruby's voice caught in her throat when she saw her eyes. Her eyes were as orange as burning embers, and seemed to shimmer in the light. She was wearing a soft smile as well.

"I'm she, and you must be, Ruby." she said; in a pleasant voice.

"I am." Ruby said, walking further into the room.

Liz seemed to have an aura of pleasantness around her, as Ruby felt at ease in her presence.

"So I hear you have a Primal Semblance, lucky you." she said; still smiling.

"Yeah, now I just wonder if I can control it."

"Well, there is something I can give you to help you with that." she said; grabbing a bottle of a green liquid.

She filled a syringe with it; and walked over to Ruby.

"Okay, hold out your arm." she commanded.

Ruby put out her arm; and was injected with the liquid. She felt it go to her head; and she had to blink a few times.

"This drug is used to suppress semblances, however, Primal Semblances are so strong that it won't suppress them completely. At least it'll keep you from going insane." she said, a smirk on her face.

Ruby smiled a weak smile. "So is Jozy crazy?"

"Well he has sorrow induced schizophrenia, but other than that he fine. Besides he takes the same medicine I just gave you."

"He does?"

"Yep, they all do. Jozy, Kale, Tyler, and Saffeara all have Primal Semblances." Liz said; letting her lab coat open up a little.

Ruby was surprised to see that she was wearing Reflex Armor as well, clearly she was no normal doctor. It was colored in black and yellow; and kind of reminded her of a bee, or wasp.

"So what else do you do here, Elizabeth?"

Liz started to work out Ruby's muscles; checking to see if there was any damage anywhere.

"I build reflex armor, make special weapon's, anything to do with engineering; I am also a technician, a huntress, and a pretty good baker if I do say so myself." She finished.

Ruby's mind broke trying to absorb all the information. "Wow, you must be really smart."

"That's what people tell me, but I think they're wrong. I am just a normal person who liked to study a lot more than deal with people."

Ruby let this sink into her mind; it reminded her of a certain cat Faunus she knew.

"So you mentioned that your eyes were removed, have you had any discomfort from the new ones?" Liz asked, holding a red scroll in her hand.

"Um no, they feel pretty normal actually."

"Have you had any trouble reading or just seeing in general?"

"I can see clearly, but I honestly wouldn't know about reading." Ruby said.

Liz wrote a few words on a sticky note and held it up. Ruby started squinting trying to read it.

"Um, I can't read that." Ruby said; feeling very embarrassed.

"Okay, well I have a fix for that too." Liz said; opening a nearby cabinet.

She produced a pair of cute, red bifocals. Ruby tried them on; and could immediately read every single word in the room.

"Wow, these are awesome." Ruby said; a bright smile on her face.

"Well, if you like them, they're yours." Liz said; whilst closing her eyes and smiling.

She then returned to her seat and started reading through Ruby's injuries again.

"Ruby you said, that while you were sitting in the chair you noticed that you were bleeding vaginally. Are you still bleeding?" Liz asked, a serious expression dawning her face.

"No, I'm not."

"Okay, well I would like to at least check." she said; picking up a cotton swab.

Ruby nodded her head; and reluctantly removed her jumpsuit. Liz wheeled her chair closer to Ruby. Ruby covered her chest as she spread her legs, she wanted to maintain some dignity.

"Just let me know if it hurts." Liz said; before entering her.

Ruby cringed, but allowed Liz to do her job. She withdrew the cotton swab; and quickly put some of Ruby's fluids on a slide. She then looked at it through a microscope; and started taking notes.

Ruby put her jump suit back on and waited patiently for Liz to finish. Liz reclined back in her chair; and let out a sigh of relief.

"You dodged a bullet there, kiddo." she said; a smile adorning her face.

"Why, what is it?"

"Well, your vaginal fluids were clear; and there is no sign of infection. Also I was worried that there would be a chance that you would be infertile, but I think you're good to go." Liz said.

Ruby got an even bigger smile on her face. "So I can have kids?"

"As many as you want." Liz said nodding in approval.

"Thank you so much." Ruby said; giving her a hug.

Liz was surprised by the hug, but accepted it nonetheless.

"Your welcome, but I think we're done. So do you need any help finding where you will stay?" she asked.

"No, I can just ask Jozy." Ruby said; opening the tent flap.

"Bye." she said; walking out of the tent.

Liz got back to work; a small smile was still on her face even after Ruby left.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Okay this might be the longest chapter I've ever written, or at least it felt that. So anyway besides how long this chapter is, my internet was down for two days so I rarely got to work on this. That's all in the past now and I do like how this chapter turned out. So thank you guys for reading my story. You all are the awesomest people in the world. Well that's enough of me and my excuses, let's get to the chapter.**

" Settling in"

Later that night, Liz, went to Jozy's command tent. This place was like a second home to her since she spent most of her time here. She scanned the tent until she saw Jozy still looking at a map. She slowly stroud over to him, her hands behind her back.

"Still planning this late at night?" she asked, signature smirk adorning her face.

Jozy gave her a tired smile, "You know me, I'm always working."

"Yes, I do know you. In fact I know too much of you." she said; with a chuckle.

"So what did you find out about, Ruby?"

"She's perfectly healthy, besides needing to use reading glasses of course."

"Well, that's good at least we can train her now." Jozy said.

Liz put her hands on the table; and looked at the maps Jozy had on the table.

"So who will be training her?" she asked.

"You will be of course." Jozy replied.

Liz looked at him in bewilderment.

"B-but I'm the rustiest one here. I haven't been on the front lines in over a year." She argued.

"I know, but it's a perfect opportunity to get you back into shape, and also to complete Ruby's training." Jozy said.

Liz thought about it for a moment, and finally gave in. "I can't argue with that, besides she's not the worst 17 year old I've met."

"Good, I'm glad you like her." Jozy said.

Liz started to leave, but before she left, Jozy got her attention, "Hey Liz, I need a refill."

She turned around to see Jozy holding an orange pill bottle.

"But, I just gave you that bottle a week ago." she said, taking the bottle.

"I guess we'll need to up your dosage again. How's the seal?"

"Its fine, just hard to control the urges." Jozy said.

Liz nodded, and was about to leave, but the situation jogged her memory.

"By the way, how is Saffeara doing?" she asked.

"She's stable, but she's still having mental trouble." Jozy said.

"Well, that is to be expected. Unfortunately. I can't give her a higher dosage, it would kill her. I also can't Seal her anymore either." Liz said; a sad look on her face.

Seeing this Jozy hugged her. She was stiff at first; but quickly loosened up.

"You've done enough." he said.

With that Jozy let go of her; and exited the tent. Liz soon followed; content with herself.

Meanwhile, Ruby was soaking in a bath inside one of the many "Bath Caves" the Sequoia Tree had built. It had been ages since she got the chance to relax; and she was going to enjoy it even if it killed her.

She started letting her mind wander; and found herself in the same bath. However, Weiss was sitting across from her. She was completely nude; except for the wedding ring on her hand.

Ruby suddenly was brought back to reality,and smirked. " _You know its funny. If it wasn't so fucking sad; it would actually be rather pleasant."_ she thought.

She got out of the bath; and was about to put her prison jumpsuit back on _._ However, a knock at the door stopped her. She threw a towel over herself; and opened the door. She was surprised when she saw Saffeara standing there.

She was fully clothed this time, thankfully. In fact she was wearing a hooded black robe that had a bunch of holes torn in it. The moonlight was also making her pink eyes light up like the prettiest of jewels.

"Hi, I thought you could use some things since you didn't come here with much." she said, holding a bag out to Ruby.

Ruby accepted the bag with a thank you; and started looking inside of it. It was a bunch of clothes, and underwear.

"Sorry if they're a little big; but they're from when I was about your age." Saffeara said; with a quizzical look on her face.

"They'll be fine. Thank you again, Saffeara." Ruby said.

"Your welcome, Little Rose." Saffeara said.

Saffeara started skipping down the stairs leading to the Bath Cave. " _What a strange woman."_ Ruby thought.

Ruby closed the door; and proceeded to put on one set of pajamas that Saffeara gave her. The underwear and pants fit nicely, but the shirt was a little big on her not that she cared. She stepped outside, carrying the bag in her hand, and the cold air immediately took her breath away. " _Holy Crap, this place is cold."_ Ruby thought to herself. She used her semblance to race down the path and into her tent.

She placed the bag on the desk that was provided for her; and crawled under the covers of her bed. It was significantly warmer there; and Ruby felt comfortable again. " _Tomorrow will be better than the past few weeks I hope."_ she thought before drifting off to sleep.

Ruby awoke to light streaming through the green fabric of her tent. She looked at her clock that was on her desk; and saw that it was only 7 o' clock. She debated whether or not to stay in bed a little bit longer, but got up anyway, figuring that Jozy would want her up early anyway. She got out of her bed and went over to the bag Saffeara had given her last night.

She found a pair of cargo pants, and a bra. She quickly put those on and started looking for a suitable shirt. She found a white button up shirt; and decided that it would do. She threw in on and buttoned it up, purposefully leaving a few buttons undone at the top. It was something that a fifteen year old Ruby would have never done, but then again she wasn't fifteen anymore.

Ruby cracked her knuckles before exiting her tent. She was immediately blinded by the hot, desert sun. Her eyes adjusted fairly quickly; and revealed the busy world around her. Everywhere, Sequoia Tree soldiers were busily preparing for the day. Ruby started surveying the area around her; looking for anybody that she knew.

It took her sometime, but she finally spotted Jozy, and Tyler standing on the outermost rim of the hole that the base resided in. They both were looking into the desert with binoculars; and talking to each other.

Ruby made her way to the two men; and stopped behind them. Jozy heard her come up; and turned around.

"Morning Ruby, did you sleep well?" he asked.

"I did, thanks." Ruby replied, looking out into the sandy space.

"So what are you guys looking at up here?"

"Sand, sand, and more fucking sand." Tyler said, turning toward Ruby.

He had his visor up; and it was the first time Ruby has seen his face. He looked to be in his early thirties with a big brown mustache; and blue eyes. To anybody else he would have looked very intimidating; but to Ruby he was pretty normal.

"So we really are in the middle of no where." Ruby said; shielding her eyes from the sun.

"I'm afraid so." Jozy confirmed.

They suddenly heard a strange growling sound. Jozy and Tyler looked at Ruby, who had a faint blush dusting her cheeks.

"You guys wouldn't happen to know where the food is, would you?" she said; her hair half hiding her face.

"Head over to the Command tent everybody else is already there anyway." Jozy said.

Ruby nodded; and made her way to the Command tent.

When she arrived the flap was open and she could clearly smell the sweet aroma of caramel chocolate cookies. This immediately made her mouth water. She walked in and found Kale, and Saffeara sitting at a large white table with an equally large plate of cookies on it.

"Morning, Ruby!" Saffeara said; looking up from a coloring book.

"Morning." Ruby said, with a confused smile.

She had no idea why Saffeara was coloring in a book made for five year olds, but it didn't really matter. Saffeara was Saffeara. Tourniquet made a gurgling sound to acknowledge Ruby. He was reading something on his scroll; and was only half paying attention.

Ruby was surprised to see that Saffeara was actually wearing her armor this time. Her top armor was essentially a sports bra that was wider and was made out of reflex armor; and her pants were more heavily armored than her top. Her boots had very high heels on them, which was very unusual for someone in her line of work. Underneath all of that she was wearing a dark blue body suit that was made out of leather.

On the other side of the table Kale no longer had the black robe on, instead she got to see the full extent of his armor. He was armored everywhere except for his arms; and below the knee. His armor also had a slight red tinge to it.

Ruby reached over to one of the cookies; and took a bite out of it. The flavor exploded in her mouth; and Ruby was seeing stars. These were the best cookies she had ever had.

"I'm glad you like them, Ruby." someone said.

Ruby opened her eyes and saw Liz looking at her with her arms crossed. An amused smirk on her face.

"These are great, Liz."

"Thank you, but they're not the best ones I've made." Liz said.

"Awe, they're good enough." Saffeara said; a long claw growing from one of her fingers.

She stabbed a cookie with it and brought it to her mouth. Liz hit her in the shoulder for this.

"Claws off the table, missy."she said.

Saffeara immediately started pouting.

Ruby was very surprised by this turn of events.

"I didn't know you were a Faunus, Saffeara." Ruby said.

She seemed to perk up when Ruby acknowledged this.

"Yep, only half though, that's why I don't have the ears or tail." she said; letting all of her claws come out of her fingers.

"Oh, well what kind of Faunus are you; if you don't mind me asking."

"I'm a wolf Faunus." she said.

"Coool." Ruby said; purposefully drawing out the word.

After the conversation ended Jozy and Tyler walked in. They looked at everyone before taking their seats.

"I take it everybody has had a chance to meet Ruby?" Jozy asked; putting his scroll on the table.

"We have; but we haven't given her the introduction." Liz confirmed.

"Well, I think the only thing she doesn't know is Saffeara's name." Jozy replied.

Ruby looked at Saffeara with a questioning expression.

"My name's the Fragile." she said.

Ruby nodded; and turned back to Jozy.

"Okay with that out of the way let's get this meeting started so we can move on with our lives. First I want to here what is coming out of Atlas since we left." Jozy said.

Tyler sat up more in his chair as he began to speak.

"It's all quiet in Atlas. Well besides the daily corruption accusations, but other than that it's peaceful."

"That's concerning. I've never known them to conduct a large military operation and not have somebody ask questions." Jozy said.

"What about the SDC?" Liz chimed in.

"They're the only one's that won't stop talking, but it's usually racist jabber; and shit."

That concluded Tyler's report.

Jozy started asking more questions, but one thing was weighing heavily on Ruby's mind.

"So do we have any idea what's going on in Vale?" she asked.

Jozy looked at Saffeara.

"We have no clue; all my agents have been snuffed out." she said.

"You're fucking with me, all of them?!" Tyler said.

" Fraid so, and I can't get anymore in. The place is locked down tight." she said, a rare form of maturity sparking from her.

Ruby got a depressed look on her face, but quickly banished the emotion. Jozy saw this but dismissed it.

Having seen that no one else was going to add anything, Jozy, decided to end the meeting.

"Okay, with that this meeting is over. I remind you that the prison raid is at the end of the month; and I want you all trained and ready to go." Jozy said.

"Ruby you need to meet your trainer." he said.

"Okay who is that?" she asked.

"That'll be me." Liz said; walking over to her.

"Really?" Ruby asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Liz countered.

"Um, nothing it's just you don't look like that much of a fighter. No offense though." she said; trying to recover.

"Oh, believe me Ruby. I can kick your ass, with the best of them." Liz said, leading Ruby out of the tent.

" _I knew they would like each other."_ Jozy thought as they left.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Here we go again. Well I don't have really much to say since I really haven't done anything interesting, besides write this chapter that is. So I'm just going to get right to the chapter. Please favorite, review, and follow to help the story grow. Love you guys :3**

"Imperfection is beautiful"

Liz lead Ruby to to a small locker room just outside the Hole. It was surprisingly clean; and actually had walls. Row after row of lockers were set in the middle of the room; each bearing the name of the owner.

"What's this place?" Ruby asked.

"This is the training locker room. Its where you can work out, develope, tactics, or practice with your weapons." Liz said, walking further into the room.

"Do I have a locker?"

"Yes, it's the one closest to the door." Liz said

Ruby walked over to the locker; and at first was confused by how exactly one would go about unlocking it. She looked at it for a second and then brushed her index finger over a small blue light on it. It immediately opened.

"A fingerprint scanner? Where did you guys get these?" she asked.

"We stole them." Liz said, a smirk on her face.

Ruby expected as much; and turned to what was inside of the locker.

Inside was a pair of bike shorts and a sports bra. Ruby was surprised to see these as it was not the typical stuff you would use to train with another person. However, she did not bring it up, choosing to trust Liz.

"Put those on and then we will start." Liz said, pointing toward a nearby bathroom.

Ruby nodded, and went into the bathroom. She quickly changed, and noticed there were no shoes with the outfit. She was confused about this and stepped out to ask Liz about this, but found that she was no where to be found. Ruby went through the door that Liz was standing in front of the last time.

When she entered she was surprised to find that the floor was made out of wood. It was very quiet, and Ruby felt like it was that way for a reason. She walked into the room very slowly as to not want to disturb anybody. When she looked to her right she did not expect see what she saw.

She found Liz dressed like her, and on her knees. Her hand were folded on her chest; and she was mouthing words with her eyes closed. She was facing a window in the room; and the light streaming through it almost made her look like a princess out of a fairy tale.

Her black and red hair was covering her face, but fell away when she moved her head. Ruby could see a single tear run down her right cheek, as she opened her eyes. She wiped it away before turning to Ruby, and giving her a smile.

"Um, I can step out if you want me to." Ruby said.

She had never walked in on anybody praying before, and decided that giving her some privacy was the best course of action.

"No, I was finished anyway." she said, jumping up.

This allowed Ruby to see how strong Liz actually was.

She was very muscular for a woman, and looked to have seen her fair share of fights. She remind Ruby of Phyrra when she saw her working out one day. Ruby did feel a little intimidated by Liz, but reminded herself that she was a huntress too.

"So Ruby, show me what you know." Liz said.

"Okay!" Ruby said, enthusiastically.

She put her fists up, and was about to run and hit her. However, she noticed that Liz was not taking a defensive stance in preparation for her hit.

Liz raised an eyebrow at Ruby's hesitation, "Well?"

Ruby took this as a challenge, and ran at Liz. She readied her fist; and activated the normal version of her semblance. " _She'll never see this coming!"_ Ruby thought, coming closer to her at blazing speed.

She threw her punch, and was very shocked when Liz caught her punch. Liz's arm barely recoiled, and Ruby got a look of dread on her face.

"Not very strong are you?" Liz said, looking at her extended arm.

She then shrugged her shoulders and flipped Ruby over herself. Ruby landed on her back and felt her head spin.

"Son of a whore, Liz. I don't think I've ever hit the ground so hard." Ruby said.

Liz laughed as she helped Ruby get up.

"You have a mouth on you, kid." she said.

"Well, I kind of stopped caring after I was tied to a chair." Ruby said.

Liz nodded, that can certainly change people.

"Well, from what I've seen is that you need to get a lot stronger. So get sometime in at the gym, and then we will see where you're at." Liz said, walking toward the door.

Ruby nodded, and went about her day.

It took a few weeks for Ruby to get up to par with Liz. She worked out during the day, and ran at night. She would train until she threw up from lack of water, and Liz would always scold her for this. Eventually her body appeared to be more chiseled than it was before, and her arms and legs were as toned as Yangs. Heck, he could probably go one on one against Yang in a boxing match and win.

Now Ruby was going to meet Liz out in the desert. It was well passed midnight, and the cold air cut through Ruby's jacket like a knife. She found Liz sitting on her knees looking at a flower.

"Liz?" Ruby asked.

"Good evening, Ruby." Liz said, standing up.

Ruby walked closer, "So why did you ask me to come out here?"

"I wanted to see if you recognized this." Liz said, pointing toward the flower.

Ruby looked at it, and found that it was a rose. Its petals were colored black and red, and it ha not opened up yet.

"It's a rose."

"Very good, but do you know what kind?"

Ruby shook her head.

"Come I'll show you." Liz said, kneeling down.

Ruby kneeled down next to her.

"This is a very special rose that can only be found in the Razorback Mountains to the east. They're called Sorrow Roses." Liz explained.

"Cool, but why are they called Sorrow Roses?" Ruby asked.

"Because people with sorrowful pasts can only get them to open." Liz replied, just barely touching one of the petals.

The flower immediately opened, and revealed that its inner petals were in fact white. Liz narrowed her eyes and got a smile on her face.

"Legend has it that a Huntress was working in the Razorbacks. Her team had been through countless battles, and always came out on top. However, this time was much different. Her team was devoured by Grimm, and she was left mortally wounded. However, she made it over a mile before collapsing in an open field.

Before she died she cursed the ground underneath her, and started crying. When she died her body turned into a multitude of flower and spread throughout the area. That is where these flowers come from." Liz finished.

"Wow, that's a sad story; but why did you bring me here?" Ruby asked.

"I want you to take care of this one."

"What, but I've never taken care of something like this before." Ruby said, a little panicked.

"Don't worry you can. Prove to yourself that you can take care of something so fragile and then you can do anything."

Ruby still didn't look convinced.

"Ruby, this world is wrong. It's hateful, destructive, deadly. It's filled with malice, greed, anger, fear,and worst of all pain. However, all these imperfections make it so much more beautiful, because imperfection is beautiful." Liz said, picking up the plant.

She put it in Ruby's hands, and then started by walking back to the base.

Ruby was stunned by her words. " _If only Weiss could have heard that."_ Ruby thought. She started running after Liz.

Both of them kept silent, until Ruby decided to break it.

"Hey Liz, have you ever been married?" Ruby asked.

Liz was surprised by the question at first, but then a soft smile appeared on her face. She took the glove on her left hand off, and showed Ruby her wedding ring. It was a gold band with a diamond inlay. Her engagement ring was on her finger as well, and had a large red Dust crystal as its center piece.

"Eight years, and counting." she said, a satisfied smile on her face.

"Wow, Liz those are so pretty." Ruby said, looking at them intently.

"I'm glad you like them, but why did you ask me?"

"I was just wondering, and truthfully I thought you wouldn't be considering the line of work you are in. I mean if you weren't in the middle of this wasteland, you could be at home with your husband; and you could have as many kids as you want."

Liz visibly flinched at the word "kids".

"Yeah." Liz said, quietly

Ruby felt like she went into territory that she didn't belong, so she tried to change the topic,

"So who is your husband anyway?"

"Oh you'll find out soon enough." Liz said, her signature smirk coming back to her face.

She then started walking away from Ruby.

"This is me, I'll see you in the morning." Liz said.

"Yep."

With that Ruby walked off, rose in hand.

Liz walked into her own tent, It was black and had a lantern on a small wooden table in the middle of it. On the right of an entrance was a bookshelf with a random assortment of books on it.

She walked over to the table and threw her scroll on it. She then turned the lantern on, and got the surprise of her life. Jozy was standing in the corner of the room; his black duffle coat concealing him perfectly in the darkness.

"Jesus, you scared the shit out of me." she said, putting her hand over her heart.

Jozy looked behind her, "Floor seems clean to me."

Liz got a smile on her face. "Not literally, smartass."

"Takes one to know one."

Liz scoffed as she went into her bedroom, closing the fabric door behind her, and started changing. Her armor was heavy, but she managed to get it off.

"So what are you doing up this late anyway?" she yelled.

"We got a whisper out of Mistral, and Saffeara suggested that I listen to the report. I literally just got back when you walked in." he yelled back.

"Oh, what was the whisper?"

"Nothing really, it was just that Mistral has seen a number of White Fang soldiers as of late."

"Well, that's concerning." Liz said, stepping out.

She had a black robe covering her rather revealing nightgown.

"It is, but so long as they stay in Mistral we don't have many problems. Anyway, I should probably get back to work." Jozy said, walking towards the door.

"Hold it, mister." Liz said, grabbing his sleeve.

Jozy turned back towards her.

"When was the last time you slept?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Um, a day ago." he said, nervously.

"I thought so, Go get changed and get to bed. If I have to sedate you I will."

"Yes, ma'am."

Meanwhile back at Beacon, Yang was watching a TV that had been set up in Team RWBY's dorm. In weeks since Ruby's incarceration the city had turned into a literal hell. Guards were patrolling the streets by day, and Atlas's Knight android's would imprison any suspicious persons by night. Luckily Beacon was deemed a neutral zone, and was completely free of Atlysian soldiers.

Yang's eyes were still red from the crying she had done over the past week. The news was showing the scene of the bus attack that Ruby was involved in. Yang had no idea where, Ruby, was or even if she was still alive. She brought her knees up to her chest and buried her face. She heard the door open, and looked up to see Blake had returned.

She was wearing a black cloak, with its hood covering the top of her head. Her face was covered by the black scarf, that was wrapped around her neck.

"Did you find anything out?" Yang asked.

Black pulled her hood and scarf down, "The military knows about as much as we do."

"I was afraid of that." Yang said, burying her face again.

Blake turned to the TV. "So nobody's claimed responsibility yet?"

"No, and Ruby's body was not recovered either."

"Well, that's good. That means there's still a chance that she's alive."

Blake turned to Yang.

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm done crying if that's what you're asking." Yang said, laying down on her bed.

Blake nodded and started changing her clothes. Yang was half tempted to sneak a peek, but decided against it.

"Where is Weiss?" Blake asked.

"Still training."

"Really, she's been out there for hours." Blake said, concern evident in her voice.

"Yeah, I should probably go get her before she collapses." Yang said, walking out the door.

Outside Weiss was jumping from practice dummy to practice dummy. She would stab them five times each, and then do it again. She had been doing this for hours, and her hair and clothes were drenched with sweat. Normally this would have disgusted her, but she was too focused on one thing to care. " _I have to save her."_ Weiss thought every time she felt like quitting.

She stopped to catch her breath, and was preparing to go again, but heard someone approaching behind her. Expecting one of her teammates she turned, preparing to explain why she could not leave yet. However, the words never left her mouth.

She saw a young girl with shoulder length white hair, and big eyes. She was wearing a pair of skinny jeans, and had a belt that had a cape on the back of it, much like Yangs. She was also wearing a brown leather jacket that was cut short.

As she got closer, Weiss, realized that she had two different colored eyes. One looked like the most expensive orange Topaz one could by. The other was as yellow as the sun.

"U-um, could you help me? I'm kind of lost." she said.

"You're one of the new first years aren't you?" Weiss asked, taking a map the girl was carrying.

She nodded, a smile on her face.

"Okay, well now you're here; and to get back to your dorm you need to take a left, then a right, and then you'll be there." Weiss said, pointing at the locations on the map.

"Oh, okay thank you Miss- uh."

"Call me, Weiss."

"Okay, my name's Hikari Cacciatore."

"It was nice meeting you, Hikari." Weiss said, walking away from the training stalls.

"You too." she said, after her.

" _What a sweet girl."_ Weiss thought.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: So I got a request to put Ruby's new weapon stats in the Author's note. Well I tried my best to put everything noteworthy in the chapter. So I hope you can understand exactly what it does. Anyway that gave me the idea of another series that I can do in the Author's Note. This new series will be called "SHDW Facts", this way I can give you guys a little insight into my life and the way I wright, and some weird facts about the story. So here we go.**

 _ **Fact 1: Jozy has a fear of dolls. It stems from seeing horror movies where ceramic dolls would be possessed.**_

 _ **Special Fact: Liz maintained a 5.00 GPA whilst attending Beacon. However, she struggled with strategic planning, thus not being appointed team leader.**_

"Graduation"

Weeks passed and fall gradually changed into winter. Deathwind Desert was much cooler now, and the members of the Sequoia Tree showed it. All around the common soldiers were dressed in maroon colored robes that had a Sequoia tree on the back of it. Their commanding officers were dressed in black overcoats that had the same insignia patched on to them.

Ruby had changed a lot over the past weeks. Her birthday came and went; she was now eighteen, and it showed. Another thing that changed was her hair color.

She dyed her hair white and red with some of the supplies GHST squad had brought back. She could always change it back when her hair grew too long.

Ruby was up earlier than usual, since today was the day. This would be the day that she would officially have her training completed. She walked to the training facility where she was supposed to meet Liz. Liz was supposed to have a couple of surprises for her today.

She opened the door and poked her head in. She saw Liz standing in the middle of the room next to something that was covered in a white cloth. Liz was furiously writing on her clipboard. Ruby stroad in, her boots clicking on the wood floor.

Liz turned towards the noise, a smirk on her face, "Good morning, Ruby."

"Morning, Liz." She said.

"So is this it?"

"Yes." she said, taking hold of the white sheet.

She removed the sheet and revealed a set of black and red Reflex armor.

"Ruby, I give to the Generation 3 DR Reaction armor." Liz said, a confident smile.

"Wow, what does the 'DR' stand for?"

"Dust Reflex." she said, pulling it open.

"Each of these prongs will inject Dust into you when the suit is put on."

"Sounds painful."

"Sure, but when all of them go in at the same time you can barely feel a thing. I made sure of it." she said.

Ruby felt a little bit better about it now.

"So would you like to put it on?" Liz asked, fidgeting in anticipation.

"Uh, sure." Ruby said, taking off her coat.

"You'll have to take off everything, including your bra."

Ruby froze in place a mortified expression on her face.

"Sorry, but I couldn't leave any room for it. You can keep your panties on if it makes you feel any better." Liz said, a nervous smile on face.

Ruby closed her eyes and stripped down. Her hands covered her chest trying to protect any shred of dignity she had.

Liz payed no attention to her, and grabbed the suit and brought it over to Ruby. She started by slipping the leg armor onto Ruby, and slipped the top onto her.

"Its coated with shark leather for some extra durability and comfort." Liz said, zipping up the front zipper.

The front zipper went all the way up her neck, and stopped just below her chin. She felt the holes inside of the armor that would guide the prongs into her joints.

"Okay, how does it feel?" Liz asked.

"It feels good. I expected it to be a little uncomfortable honestly."

"Well, I made sure to build the upper part like a bra. I am a woman after all."

"Yeah, thanks." Ruby said, stretching her fingers that were currently encased in shark leather mesh.

Liz moved behind Ruby, and took ahold of the zipper on the back of the armor.

"Okay, I'm going to close the final zipper. This will activate the suit, so it might sting a bit." she explained.

Ruby nodded, and held her breath in anticipation.

When the zipper reached the top, the prongs jabbed into Ruby's joints and started injecting Dust into her muscles. Two prongs went into each of her ankles, two into her knees, two in her wrists, one, in her elbows, and two in her shoulders. Lastly was a long line of them that went down her spine.

She felt a sharp sting at first, but it quickly mellowed out. She felt her wounds heal around the prongs almost instantly. She was certain that she had healed completely and started moving, and twisting her body. She was stiff at first, but quickly loosened up.

"This is so cool, but why did you have Dust inject into me?" Ruby asked not taking her eyes off of her new armor.

"I'm glad you asked. The Dust will allow you to use your speed semblance on any one of your limbs. For instance you can now throw a punch as fast as you can run." Liz said, walking over to a cinder block that had been set in the room.

"It will also make you stronger; go ahead and give the cinder block a good whack." Liz commanded, whilst throwing Ruby a pair of safety goggles.

Ruby put on the goggles, and took aim at the cinder block. She threw her punch and shattered the cinder block, sending cement dust flying everywhere.

"That is so FREAKING cool!" Ruby yelled.

Liz walked up to her, laughing at the overly excited girl.

"Calm down there girly, otherwise you'll give yourself a heart attack." she said.

"Liz, this this thing is awesome, but didn't you say there was one more thing you wanted to show me?' Ruby asked.

"Yes, so you'll need a weapon to participate in the prison raid, and unfortunately I don't have any high powered sniper scythes lying around. So I built you the next best thing." Liz said, retrieving a box from the corner of the room.

She opened the box, and withdrew a sword in a black fabric sheath. She handed it to Ruby, and backed away from her. Ruby was surprised by the weight of the sword. It was over 4 feet long, yet felt weightless. She unsheathed the sword with a sharp metal sound. It was a black and white, double edged, rapier. It had a trigger on its hilt, and a metal bird head on the end of it. It was truly a work of art.

"Wow, this is really beautiful, Liz. But what does this do?" Ruby said, pulling the trigger.

"No, don't do-" Liz was cut off by the blade of the sword shooting from the hilt and imbedding itself in the wall.

Ruby's eyes went wide, and flicked between the wall and Liz. Liz put her hand on her forehead, and looked at the ground.

"I'm sorry." Ruby said, awkwardly.

"Just press the bird's head." she said, looking up again.

Ruby pressed the head, and the blade returned to the via a thin cord. Ruby was impressed by its design.

"This is very awesome, Liz."

"I'm glad you like it. It was hard enough trying to get the Nevermore feathers to make it out of."

"This is made out of Nevermore feathers?"

"Yep, don't worry nobody died. One person just lost one of his fingers." Liz said, with a smile.

"Oh, great." Ruby said, unsure if that was necessarily a good thing.

Ruby hooked the sword onto her belt, and turned back to Liz.

"Jozy, wants us to meet in the command tent for a final mission briefing." Liz said, turning around.

Ruby followed her out the door and asked, "So where is Jozy? I haven't seen him in a lot in the last few days."

"He's, uh, been… busy." Liz said, hesitantly.

Ruby noticed her hesitation, "Okay, what's he been busy with?"

"Personal matters." she said, walking a little faster.

Ruby cocked an eyebrow at the woman. She had never seen Liz, act this way, however, she decided not to pry anymore.

They arrived at the command tent, and found that they were the only ones who were missing. Commander Magnolia was also present, a rare occurrence Ruby found out. Ruby also noticed that everyone was being especially nice to Liz.

Jozy was standing at the head of the table with Kale sitting on his right, and Saffeara on his left. Tyler was sitting directly across from Magnolia on Jozy's right side. Ruby was sitting next to Tyler at the end of the table. Liz stood a little bit behind Jozy.

There was a map on the table that detailed the layout of the prison.

"Okay guys, this is the layout for the prison, Ruby, was supposed to be imprisoned a." Jozy said, pointing at the map.

Liz closed her fist when he said that.

"As you can see the prison itself is located underground,. There it is separated into three different cylindrical blocks, and they vary in their depth depending on the criminal offenses." Jozy said.

"That is where we come in. That prison is holding a multitude of high valued individuals that would be very loyal to our cause." Saffeara added, kicking her feet back and forth under the table.

"Exactly." Jozy said.

Ruby looked over the map, and the details that were written on it.

"So who are we going after specifically?" she asked.

"Red rated individuals." Jozy stated.

"But those are…" Ruby trailed off.

"Huntsmen and huntresses." Tyler finished for her.

"All of them wrongly accused by the Atlysian military, and sentenced them to life in prison. They deemed them too powerful to control." Magnolia added, a grave look on her face.

"Luckily, we found you before anything worse happened to you." Jozy said.

Ruby's hands clutched around her knee pads.

"Anyway, Liz tell us what the defenses will be like." Jozy commanded.

"Gladly, so you'll get the standard shit: soldiers, and a few androids. However, each of the cell blocks has a blast door, that will close as soon as the alarm is sounded. It will cut the block in half and potentially trapping you." she said, swiping on her scroll.

"Okay, so how do we get past it?" Tyler asked.

"You'll have to get control of the switches that can activate them, and that will delay them from activating automatically. This is where Ruby comes in, since she is the fastest out of all of us, her job will be to get to the reactor, and take it offline." Liz finished.

"Can you do that, Ruby?" Jozy asked.

Ruby nodded, with a determined look on her face.

"Okay, and you'll need this." Jozy said, pulling up a black suit case.

He set it in front of Ruby, and the newly white haired girl opened it.

Inside was a black half-mask that would cover her mouth and neck. On the front of it her rose emblem had been sewn onto it. Ruby carefully picked it up, and found that the inside of it was plush and breathable. The part that would fit around her neck was made more breathable than the rest, and had a zipper on the back of it. Overall the mask was made of leather, and had a strap that would help her keep the mask on during times of stress.

"We wear masks for one of two reasons, Ruby. We either wear them to protect the ones we love, or we wear them to strike fear into our enemies." Jozy said.

Ruby furrowed her brow.

"So why do you wear this mask, Ruby? This is also where you will get your name."

She started thinking deeply about the question. " _I have been through the wringer. I've seen countless people get killed, and killed countless people. Yet they were there for me. Yang, Blake, and… Weiss. As far as I know they're safe, and peaceful. I need to protect them no matter what._

"I wear it because I have people that I love, and they need to stay safe. I will be called Scatter, because I was broken and my reputation was destroyed." She said.

Jozy got a smirk on his face, and Liz smiled so bright she appeared to glow.

"Okay, then welcome, Scatter." Jozy said, outstretching his hand.

"Good to be here." Ruby said, grasping his hand.

Shortly after Jozy ended the meeting, and they all exited the tent. Ruby held her new mask in her hand, proud of it completely.

"Hey Ruby." Liz said, walking up beside her.

"Yeah, what's up?" Ruby asked.

However, the only answer she got was, Liz, pulling her into a side hug and putting her scroll out in front of them.

"Say, cheese." Liz said.

"Eh, cheese." Ruby said, with a bewildered smile.

Liz took the picture and then tuned to her.

"I thought you would want to remember this day. So I thought what better way than a picture." Liz said, putting her scroll away.

A small smile graced Ruby's lips. She nodded, and then said her farewells to Liz. She then headed to the training building filled with confidence.

Later that night, Liz, was alone in her tent and had fallen asleep. She had been reading a book, and fell asleep at her table. Tears were streaming down her face as she was having a nightmare.

Her book was completely soaked, and her hair was stuck to her face. Jozy heard the sobbing from outside and rushed in to see what was wrong. He immediately saw Liz, and ran over to her. He knelt down and grabbed Liz by her shoulders. He then faced her towards him,and gave her a few good shakes. This woke her up, and she found that she had been crying.

"I-I…" she trailed off, before breaking down again.

She latched onto Jozy, and started crying into his shoulder. Jozy started trying to comfort her, and silence her sobs.

After a while her crying stopped, and she calmed down.

"You better now. Lizzy?" he asked.

Liz smiled a little, even though nobody could see it.

"You know I hate that name." she said.

"I know, but I knew you would respond to that."

Both of them sat there for a moment.

"It was about Ori again, wasn't it?" Jozy asked.

"Of course, it always is." Liz replied, standing up.

"You know she's gone. There's nothing that can change that."

"You sound so sure."

Jozy clenched his fist, and looked at the ground.

"I know what happened, and worst of all… I remember what I did. There is no way she survived."

He unclenched his fist, and went over to Liz. He hugged her again.

"I've said my apologies. Please just accept them."

"I already have, but a mom has to keep her hopes up, right?" Liz said, a smile on her face.

Jozy nodded, and let go of her.

"So are you going to be okay?" He asked.

"Yep I'll be fine now." Liz said.

With that they left, and went to prepare for the raid that would happen tomorrow.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Welcome back to RWBY: Darkfall guys, I've missed you. So I started school recently, and I just wanted say if these chapters are late that's probably the reason. Okay now that that is out of the way let's get into SHDW Facts.**

 _ **Fact: When I have to write anything for Saffeara I listen to the Mirai Nikki(Future Diary) opening.**_

 **So I just wanted to say thank you to all of you for making this so much fun for me to write. So please favorite, follow, and review.**

Raid

Soldier after soldier filled into their Bullheads. Two maroon cloaked squads to each airship. It was still night time, but the sun could be seen rising in the distance. The airships that were already full were hovering just above the landing zone.

Jozy, Kale, Tyler, Saffeara, and Ruby were already in the air. They were already wearing their masks, and were preparing mentally for what was about to transpire. Ruby looked over to Saffeara to see what her combat attire would be.

She was surprised to find that she was wearing the same shredded cloak that she had met Ruby with the first night. The hood was pulled up, and half concealed her mask. The mask itself gave Ruby the creeps. It was made out of glass, and was very crudely made. It looked like it had broken many times, and she just put it back together.

"Remember Ruby, no real names." Jozy said.

He was sitting next to her with his arms crossed.

"I got it, Mannequin." she responded.

"Will you be going in with us?" Tyler asked Jozy.

"No, I'm going to let you guys clear a path, then my mission will begin." Jozy said.

"Which is?"

"I'm going to see an old friend." he said.

Tyler knew who he was talking about, but kept it to himself.

Minutes passed, and then Jozy gave the go ahead for them to start moving. The Bullhead started accelerating, which sent vibrations running up and down Ruby's spine. However, the acceleration didn't last for too long. The bay doors opened, and gave her a look at the outside. It wasn't that great of a view though, considering that it was all sand. Ruby also felt the rush of the cold desert air hit her face. However, her face was covered by her mask, and the rest of her body was covered by not only her armor but a black trench coat as well. She had the coats belt tied around her armored waist so that it would fit her snuggly.

Moments passed and then she saw it, the prison. It looked like a small city it had so many lights. This made it hard to believe that the majority of the facility was underground. In the front was a courtyard that had a plethora of guards and stationary gun emplacements.

"Tyler, once we get over the courtyard you're online." Jozy said, reclining back in his seat.

Tyler nodded, and readied his machine gun.

Ruby noticed that he seemed unusually calm; almost looked like he didn't care at all. However, she noticed something else as well. She had them same look on her face. Her eyes were already orangish yellow.

They passed over the courtyard, and Tyler jumped out of the Bullhead. He landed with a thud onto the prison's landing pad. The guards looked at him in disbelief. A fall from that height should have killed him. He didn't say a word, before launching a storm of bullets they're way.

The high caliber rounds ripped apart any and everyone they hit. They also left a cloud of dust as well. At that point Kale, Saffeara, and Ruby joined him. He switched his machine gun over to its secondary form, which was a giant hammer. He hit the main gate with his hammer and broke it off its hinges.

Almost immediately Sequoia Tree soldiers flooded into the compound. They started shooting and pursuing them into the prison. Kale ran ahead of them, and killed three soldiers in one motion. Thus clearing the way for the advancing soldiers.

Ruby followed them at a brisk walk, and entered the facility. Shortly after she entered, Jozy, walked through the front gate accompanied by two soldiers. He walked slowly into the facility and proceeded to go down the stairs. He saw the rest of his forces push into the first cell block. He did not follow them, however, and went down a black corridor to his right.

Meanwhile, Ruby and the rest of the Sequoia Tree's leadership were trying to take control of the first cell block. Ruby wasn't really fighting. Instead she prefered to let the guards try and hit her with their batons. She would always dodge the strike and then kick them off the catwalk to their deaths below. She would also let Saffeara kill a majority of the guards with a mace she had withdrawn from under her cloak.

She looked over to the control station, which was situated in the middle of the catwalk, and saw that Tyler had disposed of the guards. He disabled the blast door, which was now half open. Ruby nodded at Saffeara, and the three soldiers that were with her and jumped through the opening. Saffeara and the three soldiers followed her. Ruby fell for sometime, until she saw the catwalk. She then adjusted herself so that she would fly passed it. She then landed on her feet with a thud; using her aura to ensure she wouldn't hurt herself.

Saffeara, and her soldiers landed on the catwalk in much the same way.

"Help, Scatter." she commanded, entering the command station.

"Yes, ma'am." They said, jumping down further.

They landed next to Ruby.

"We're with you, ma'am."

"Good, follow me we're going all the way." Ruby said.

However, before they even started to move a whistling sound pierced the air. Ruby immediately knew what it was, and tried to grab at least one of the soldiers. It was futile as the following explosion evaporated the soldiers. Ruby jumped out of the way thanks to her semblance, but the bottom of her coat was burned and shredded. She was coated in a whole cloud of shrapnel, but her armor stopped it.

"You will not be going anywhere, kid." a woman said, holding a smoking rocket launcher.

Ruby looked at her with an unamused gaze, and saw that she was clearly Atlysian military. She had a beret shoved over her messy hair, and one patch over her left eye.

"I have no time for you. May I pass you worthless piece of meat?" Ruby asked.

Before she could answer the woman dodged out of the way of a giant piece of concrete. Saffeara had noticed what had happened, and used her semblance to rip a piece of concrete out of a nearby wall. A sadistic smile grew on her face, as she got a good look at her opponent.

"So you're here too, Elenor. You persistent bitch!" she yelled, grabbing her mace.

She started attacking her violently; breaking cement with every swing. Elenor dodged every one of her swings. This slightly frustrated Saffeara; then she got and idea. On her next swing she kicked Elenor in the face, which cut her cheek.

Feeling the pain Elenor grabbed Saffeara and threw her down to where Ruby was. Saffeara landed safely on the ground, and looked up to Elenor. She wiped the blood off of her cheek, which stained her skin.

"So Fragile, you decided to come out of your hole." she said.

"Well, of course I couldn't leave you alone forever." Saffeara responded.

Saffeara then turned her head to Ruby, "Go this fight is mine."

Ruby looked at her, and then started walking towards a nearby door. Elenor was about to stop her, but she was blocked by Saffeara's mace turning into it primary whip form. The razor sharp blade on the tip of it was embedded in the wall between Ruby and she.

"Where do you think you are going?" Saffeara asked; as Ruby left the room.

Elenor turned back toward Saffeara; anger in her eyes. Saffear just looked at her with a playful look. Without any further indication, Elenor, grabbed the rocket launcher off her back and shot it. The round flew at Saffeara, who did a flip to get out of the way. When she landed she swung her whip at Elenor; who in turn dodged it. The blades on the whip were so sharp that they cut the cement wall behind her.

Seeing that she was almost equally matched at range, Elenor, switched her rocket launcher over to its bo staff form. She knew that launching an outright assault against Saffeara was suicide, but she had no other choice. However, if she could overwhelm her with speed she had a slight chance of making it out of this alive.

She then ran at her spinning her staff. Saffeara tried to intercept her with her whip, but missed. This gave Elenor an opening, and she was going to exploit it. Saffeara saw that she was about to get hit in the head, and quickly changed her whip back to its mace form. She barely blocked the staff, and was then kicked back. " _She's faster than I remember; or am I slower?"_ Saffeara asked herself.

"What's wrong, Saffeara. You scared?" Elenor taunted.

"No, because there is one thing driving me: the fact that you probably taste delicious." Saffeara said; smile returning to her face.

Elenor grit her teeth at this, and ran at Saffeara again.

Meanwhile Ruby, made it to the main reactor and found that it only three man had been sent to guard it. " _How arrogant is the military?"_ she thought. It was at that time that the first guard saw Ruby. He whipped out his pistol, and shot Ruby. The round went through her coat and imbedded itself in her armor.

"Ouch." she said. her voice completely monotone.

The guard started to panic as round after round had no effect on Ruby. The other guards noticed this and started running towards their comrade. Before they could get there, however, he was already being stabbed by Ruby's "Black Feather". She then jumped over the dying guard and landed behind the next one. She stabbed him in the back; severing his spinal cord.

Seeing this the guard started to flee. Ruby saw this and shot Black Feather at him. The blade pierced into his ankle, and hooked onto him there.

"I don't believe I gave you permission to leave." she said, pulling him closer to her.

He grit his teeth, "What do you want?"

Ruby placed her boot on the man's head, and slowly increased the pressure.

"What I want is for you to turn this thing off."

"I won't do it."

"Oh?" she said, grabbing the man by his throat.

She lifted the large man over the railing. Down below was the main cooling fan for the reactor; spinning at 5 turns per second.

"Fine, then I'll just throw you into the fan; followed by a rather large piece of concrete."

"No if you do that the reactor will overheat and kill everyone here." he said, panic evident in his face.

"So be it, but I'm willing to bet we will be out of here before that happens." Ruby said.

The guard looked back at Ruby and then to the fan. He closed his eyes and slowly nodded his head. Ruby brought him back over to the catwalk, and dropped him there. He braced himself up against the railing to compensate for his injured foot.

He made his way over to the control panel, and started flipping switches. It took a minute to get all the switches turned off. He then withdrew a key out of the machine and handed it to Ruby.

"This will turn the reactor back on." he said.

Ruby looked at it, and then threw it into the still running fan.

"What the hell are you doing! Without that the reactor will overheat in a matter of months!" he yelled.

Ruby grabbed the man's face in a sensual way. She brought it within touching distance of hers. She made sure he could see her eyes, and nothing else.

"I know; I lied." she whispered.

With that she broke his neck, and threw his body into the fan below.

Ruby watched as the man was turned into a red smoothy. Having gotten tired of watching, she turned and saw a security camera. She looked into the camera; and noticed that her orangish-yellow eyes were casting a reflection on the lens. She turned and started walking out of the room; cold, dead eyes guiding her. " _I wonder if everyone is okay?" she thought._


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Happy Labor day! So I went beast mode and wrote this chapter one day after the last chapter was posted. Needless to say I was exhausted by the time I was done. So thank you guys so much for the support on this story, I love you all. Please follow, review, and favorite.**

 **Criminal rating scale:** _ **Green= minor offense, Yellow= fine/possible jail time, Blue= guranteed imprisonment for upwards of 15 years, Red= dead or alive, and Black= kill on sight.**_

"Shinigami"

Saffeara, and Elenor's weapons clashed in a flurry of sparks. The two opponents had been fighting for what seemed like hours. Saffeara's hood had fallen down revealing her blue and purple hair. She wore the same psychotic smile, and had salive streaming from the corners of it. She looked like a starving animal.

Elenor was much worse. She was bleeding from her right eye; which Saffeara had removed, and she was sweating. " _Her body feels like paper; yet she doesn't feel pain. Who is she? What is she?"_ Elenor asked herself.

"Elenor, the longer you sit there the more time I have to kill you." Saffeara said, a playful expression on her face.

" _Wait, I've heard that before. A long time ago."_ Elenor got a flashback in her mind and grit her teeth.

"You, I know who you are." she said.

"Oh, you do?"

"Yeah, you're the Black rated huntress… SAFFEARA VAIN!" she yelled; picking up her staff.

She ran her so fast that, Saffeara, couldn't keep up with her. Her eyes went wide when Elenor jabbed her stomach with the staff. This was also followed by a large quantity of spit, and a gag. Elnor then spun her staff and brought it down hard on Saffeara's head; which sent her to the floor.

Elenor picked her up by her hair, and stood her up. She then started hitting her over and over again.

I think you should reconsider who you think you're up against, because… I AM NOT A PIECE OF MEAT!" with that she kicked Saffeara into the wall.

She broke a large hole in the wall, and was buried in the rubble.

"and neither was my family." Elenor said, turning away.

As she started to walk away, the rubble began to shift. Elenor pointed her rocket launcher at it.

"You really don't give up do you?"she asked; firing the weapon.

The debris erupted in a ball of fire. Elenor waited for a moment, and then started walking again. However, not a second later Saffeara burst from the fiery rubble. Her robe was gone, along with her mask. Her leather bodysuit was cut open in several different places, and her reflex armor had more that a few holes in it. Her hair was messy, and covered her eyes in a dark shroud. She threw her head back, and started laughing hysterically. Her teeth were blood stained from coughing her own blood.

"Ra-razor blades down my throat…" she said.

"F-Fire on my skin…"

"Cut t-the bitch, we do-don't need her…"

"Twist and pull the earlobes so they come off." Saffeara said, slapping her hand to her head.

She turned toward Elenor.

"Mom… Mom, please help me. I'm so fucked up." she said, wiping the hair out of her eyes.

Elenor's one good eye widened in fear. Her shaking hands dropped her rocket launcher, and she started walking backwards. Saffeara got off of her knees and started slowly walking towards her. She deployed her claws, and started clicking them together. Her normally pink eyes had turned white, and were glowing.

Elenor tripped and fell on the ground. Panic was painted on her face, as a tear fell from her eye.

"You should be dead." she said.

Saffeara just smiled at her, and jumped into the air. Elenor followed her with her eye, until it was gone. Saffeara landed on her and ripped the other eye out of her head.

"It's like picking strawberries!" Saffeara said, plopping it in her mouth and swallowing it whole.

She then started to rip, Elenor, apart; putting pieces of human flesh in her mouth as she went. She swallowed the chucks whole she was moving so fast. Elenor was already dead; her intestine having been mutilated.

Saffeara, put another chunk in her mouth; but accidently chewed it. She stopped dead in her tracks and got a mortified look on her face. She could feel the metal tange of the blood burn her mouth and throat. She squinted as tears started welling up in her eyes. Tears of blood slowly fell from her eyes and stained her cheeks. Her eyes slowly turned back to pink, and her tears turned to water. She spit the meat out, and started sobbing heavily into her hands.

She was crying so hard that she didn't hear Kale land behind her. He sent his men farther into the prison, and went over to Saffeara. He saw Elenor's mutilated body; and immediately knew what had happened. He crouched next to her and draped his arm over her.

Surprised by the sudden touch she looked at him with terror in her eyes. Kale gave her a smile through his bandages. This cheered her up a bit, but didn't keep her from crying. She grabbed onto his cloak; and started crying into it. Kale sat there for a few minutes, until Saffeara stopped crying. He then moved her away; and moved his fingers to where his mouth was. Anybody else would have no clue what he meant; but Saffeara had seen it enough times to know what it meant. She jammed her fingers down her throat and vomited up what she had eaten. Kale stayed next to her and rubbed her back while she threw up. When she was done both of them stood up. Kale looked at her with a worried expression.

"I'm fine, we should get back to the mission." Saffeara said; picking up her whip "Shadowmancer" of the ground.

She wrapped it around her waist; and turned back to Kale. She nodded; and motioned for him to follow. He pointed towards his face; referencing his bandage mask.

"I'm a black rank. I'm already dead so there is no sense for me to wear a mask." she said.

With that she ran down the hallway that would lead her to the third cell block. Kale followed soon afterward.

Meanwhile, Jozy, was deep in the bowels of the prison. His sword was drawn; and had blood dripping off of it. The two soldiers that were with him had also used their rifles. They were traversing a dark staircase that would lead even further underground. It was so dark that Jozy had trouble seeing 5 feet in front of him. However, he could hear just fine. They rounded a corner and found themselves standing in a room full of support pillars. Jozy got a bad feeling; and raised his hand in the air. The two soldiers stopped and raised their rifles.

"What is it, sir?"

"Just a feeling." Jozy said. walking farther into the room.

The room was eerily quiet. The only sound he could hear was the water dripping from the ceiling. Jozy was thankful that he was wearing his black duffle coat, since it camouflaged him. He stood there and listened. He could hear the water, but every now and then he would hear faint movement. It suddenly got louder, and more sporadic. He smirked; and made his hand glow gold.

Seconds later two men jumped out of the darkness, and tried to attack him with swords. The minute they jumped, Jozy, froze time using yellow Dust. He looked at the two men; and started inspecting their uniforms.

"Hmm, Atlysian special forces. Why are you here?" Jozy thought out loud.

Satisfied with his search he used fire Dust to disintegrate the two soldiers. He then returned time to its normal state. He went back over to his soldiers, and handed them one of the soldiers patches.

"Captain, find one of the other leaders and tell them their are SF present in the area." Jozy commanded.

"Yes, sir. What about you?" he asked; putting the patch in his tac vest.

"I've killed two already, I can take a lot more." Jozy said; turning and walking away.

Jozy continued walking and eventually found himself in a large circular room. It was metal from top to bottom and had a balcony over looking it. Jozy heard the metal door close behind him.

"Well look who decided to show up." a booming voice said.

A huge muscular man stepped out onto the balcony; his golden hair glistening in the light.

"Bull, it's been too long. To think you survived after I wounded you." Jozy said, walking forward.

A knife was thrown; and pierced the floor in front of him. Jozy jerked his head up and saw a woman with sky blue hair; and a metal jaw. She was wearing the same uniform as the SF members.

"Well, isn't this a happy reunion! I am very surprised to see you again… Reaper." Jozy said.

"Shut up, Jozy. This reunion is not happy." Reaper said.

Jozy started laughing, "Oh Reaper, if only I ripped your vocal cords out instead of your jaw; it would have been a lot better."

This pissed both Bull, and Reaper off to no end.

"Shut up, you asshole." Bull said, whilst pulling out a revolver.

"Now Bull shouldn't you show your old team leader some respect?' Jozy asked; a smile growing on his face.

"No, you can go die with that bitch Elizabeth." Bull said.

Jozy's eyes went wide;and his pupils got smaller.

"What did you say?" he asked; cracking the fingers on his left hand.

"E-liz-a-beth is a bitch."

"That is what I thought you said."

Suddenly, the lights started flickering; and the security cameras exploded. Jozy undid the locks on his mask; and let it fall to the ground. He then raised his arms;and pulled the balcony down using Dust. Bull, and Reaper rolled onto the ground and jumped onto their feet almost immediately. Reaper deployed her scythe, while Bull grabbed his other pistol and turned his two revolvers into a great sword.

They both ran at Jozy, and started swinging. He jumped and dodged both of them over and over again. His eyes were cold; and stagnant as he looked on his attackers. On one assault he caught Reaper's scythe; and kicked her into the wall. She left a dent in the wall; and was unconscious.

"Reaper!" Bull yelled; poised to bring his sword down on Jozy.

However, Jozy had other plans. He kicked his sword away; and stabbed him with his own sword, Dragon Razor. Jozy hooked Dragon Razor under Bull's rib cage and pierced his heart

"You should know better than to insult a woman, especially my wife." Jozy said.

He then bent down and picked up Bull's great sword;and cut his head off with it. He threw it to the ground next to Bull's body.

Elsewhere ,Reaper, just woke up and saw what had transpired. She was filled with rage and charged at Jozy recklessly. She only got half way when a ice crystal lodged itself in her chest. She dropped to her knees and coughed blood. Jozy's hand started to glow blue again; and he finished her off with an ice crystal to the head.

He went and put his mask back on; and felt his scroll vibrate. It was Tyler telling him that the mission was completed. He sent a quick message telling everyone to retreat back to the Bullheads. Before he left the room he closed Reaper's eyes. He then left the room; eager to get back home.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: And we're back with RWBY: Darkfall. So I just wanted to say thank you all so much for all the support on this story. I love you all. Also if you want more insight to the world of RWBY: Darkfall follow my "RWBY: Darkfall Profiles" story. So without further ado let's get to the chapter. Don't forget to follow/favorite/review.**

 _Fun fact: When translated "Hikari Cacciatore" literally means Sky Hunter._

"Mysterious intentions"

Ruby, exited the prison with the rest of the Sequoia Tree's leadership. She felt the fresh air hit her face; and on queue she took her mask off. She breathed the new air in deeply after breathing the stale air of the prison for over an hour. Above the sun was starting its gradual climb; and bathed the facility in morning light.

Bullhead after Bullhead landed, filled, and quickly took off again. Everyone took their masks off, except for Kale of course since his bandages actually had a purpose. As Jozy took his mask off he noticed that his hands were shaking violently.

"Are you alright?" a voice came.

Jozy was snapped out of his thoughts; and found Ruby with a questioning look on her face.

"I'm fine; trust me." Jozy said, giving her a smile to reassure her.

Ruby nodded; and turned back around. Jozy then went back to looking at his hand. He had a hunch about what the cause was, but he would have to wait till later to find out if he was correct.

The five of them entered their Bullhead and immediately were lifted into the air. it was at this point that Ruby realized just how bad Saffeara looked.

"Hey, are you alright Saffeara?" Ruby asked, worry painted across her face.

"I'm fine." she said, somewhat dryly.

This didn't help, Ruby. It only made her want to ask what was wrong again; and she was about to but Kale grabbed her shoulder. Ruby looked at him; a worried look still on her face. He simply just shook her head and let her shoulder go. The rest of the ride was very quiet and uneventful.

Hours later the story of the prison raid was all over the news. The news story even showed the gruesome details of the battle between Saffeara and Elenor via security camera footage. It even showed Ruby in the reactor. Luckily, they could not see her face thanks to her mask. However, the people who knew her recognized her.

"So I guess she was a terrorist. I told you guys." Cardin said; putting his feet up on a table in front of him.

"Yeah, crazy bitch thought she could pull one over on Team CRDL. Well, we got news for her, we saw thru her lame disguise." Russel said; addressing a growing crowd of first years.

They all stood in awe at the fourth year team. In the back, Weiss, was listening to their nonsense and was about ready to puke. She had been listening to them for over an hour and had, had enough. She began walking towards them from a wall that she had been leaning on. Before she could get there, however, she heard the door to the small lounging area open.

Hikari walked in with a soft drink in her hand, sucking away at its straw. She immediately became the center of attention. She paid no mind to it and was about to continue walking down the hall.

"Hey, two eyed! Where do you think you're going?" Cardin yelled after her.

Hikari turned and looked at Cardin. Her face completely emotionless.

"Sorry, but I don't tell my business to man-whores." she said, turning away.

Cardin was stunned and angry about what she had just said. He was about to yell at her again, but the first years beat him to it.

"Hey, watch your mouth!" one said. "How can you act so disrespectfully to one of the fourth year teams?" a girl asked.

Hikari turned and cocked an eyebrow. She looked at the angry crowd; with unimpressed eyes. She looked to Cardin, who was wearing a smug look on his face.

"Firstly, I will not watch my mouth since I am 17 years old, and frankly I do not care about your feelings so I will cuss if I fucking want too."

She then turned to Cardin.

"Secondly, I don't know how a miserable excuse for a Huntsman, like you, got to fourth year in the first place." she said, taking a sip from her drink.

Cardin was so angry that he was grinding his teeth together.

"You talk a big game, but can you match it, skank?!" Cardin yelled; throwing a punch at her.

She caught his punch in her left hand. Cardin got a horrified look on his face.

"Yep, you aren't strong at all." she said.

Hikari then threw her drink in the air and grabbed Cardin's arm. She threw him into the wall, where he stayed upside down. She then lifted her hand; and caught her drink perfectly in the palm of her hand. She took her last sips last sips from it; and then dumped the rest onto Cardin. She turned away from him; and wiped her ivory hair out of her eyes. Unfortunately this allured her to another problem. The shirt under her school uniform jacket had its first few buttons undone. This left a small amount of cleavage exposed. All this did was piss her off more; it wasn't the fact that her clothes were too small, it was the fact that she was more… developed than most girls her age.

She grit her teeth and quickly redid the buttons; and turned to Weiss, who stood in awe at what Hikari had just done.

She looked at her with a quizzical look, "Why are you so amazed that I could do that? Cardin is just a man, and a liar to boot." she asked.

"You're only a first year though. Where did you learn to do that?!" Weiss asked, kind of freaking out.

"I'll never tell." she simply said.

This frustrated Weiss who felt she deserved an explanation. She was about to press harder on her, but she never got to that point.

"Take me to your team." Hikari ordered.

Weiss was taken aback by what she asked.

"Hey what gives! What makes you think that you can just order me around?!" Weiss asked; preparing to tear the girl a new one.

However, before she could even think of what to do next she felt herself being lifted in the air.

Hikari had lifted Weiss off the ground; and slammed her into the wall. Weiss gasped as the pain shot down her back.

"Because I can." she said, a cold expression on her face.

She then dropped Weiss back to the ground, and started walking down the hall. Weiss reluctantly got up and followed her.

Both of them made their way down the hall in utter silence, which was fine for the both of them. The silence was finally broken by loud voices coming from Team RWBY's dorm. Apparently Yang; and Blake were fighting again. This had happened a lot since more news concerning Ruby had surfaced.

Weiss placed her hand on the doorknob; and turned to Hikari. She had a stone cold expression on her face, that could only be described as determination. Weiss opened the door; and was greeted by her two upset teammates.

"I don't care, Blake I'm going to get, Ruby!"

"How are you going to do that?! You can't even get out of the city!"

"I'll think of something!" Yang yelled; grabbing a bag violently.

Hikari watched as Ynag furiously put clothes into that bag.

"Yang, please." Blake begged; on the verge of tears.

"No way out of the city, huh?" Hikari asked, a smirk adorning her face.

The two girls finally noticed Hikari and Weiss standing in the doorway.

"What if I told you I know someone who could get you out of the city?" Hikari asked.

Everyone looked at her with a shocked expression on their faces. This lasted about a few minutes, and made it very awkward. Hikari looked from each girls.

"Okay… are you going to stand there like statues;or are you going to answer my question?" Hikari asked.

This seemed to snapped team RWBY back to life. Blake squinted her eyes at Hikari.

"What do you mean; and who are you?"

"My name is Hikari Cacciatore; and I mean what I say." she replied.

"You're screwing with us. Atlas has the border locked down and will arrest anyone one sight who tries to escape." Blake countered her.

Hikari walked over to Blake, "Truthfully, you don't know if I'm lying to you or not; but you should also know that I gain nothing from lying to you, Faunus." she said.

Blake's eyes went wide as she reached to the top of her head. Her bow was still on which eased her mind; but left her with one question.

"How did you know?" Blake asked; trying not to sweat.

"Did you really think that something _that_ obvious would fool me?" she asked.

Blake bit her lip and backed away; not wishing to answer her.

"Okay, let's cut to the chase. How is this person going to get us out of the city?" Yang asked.

"First only one of you can go because of certain limitations that you'll have to work out with her yourselves; but she can get you out of the city."

"And why do I feel like you won't help us out of the goodness of your heart?" Yang asked.

"Because I'm a selfish bitch." Hikari said without flinching.

The room fell silent for a moment.

"Look guys I've heard the stories of Ruby; and I just wanted to say I'm rooting for you. However, I have to look after my own interests as well, otherwise everything I've done thus far has been for nothing.' Hikari said.

Team RWBY thought about it for a minute; and Yang finally spoke up, "What do you need us to do?"

Hikari perked up at this; and whipped out her scroll. She brought up a picture;and showed it to Team RWBY.

It was of a man in his early thirties. He had white hair and yellow eyes. Weiss, Yang, and Blake each had at least a minute to look at it. Both and Yang; and Blake instantly shook their heads. Weiss, however, felt something itching in the back of her mind when she looked at the picture. She just couldn't get it though, and eventually shook her head too.

Hikari gave a fake smile as she put her scroll away.

"Well thanks for trying. My friend will be here later tonight; and please don't kill her." she said; turning and walking out the door.

Team RWBY looked at each other with confused expressions on their faces. Weiss threw her hands up, " Hey don't look at me; she forced me to do this."

"Let's just get ready." Yang said, closing the door.

Back at the Sequoia Tree's headquarters, Jozy, was sitting on his bed staring into a mirror. His shirt was off which revealed all of his scars. His chest looked like it had been cut over and over again. His back was about the same only the scars were more spread out.

His hands twitched again; and he looked at them for what felt like the hundredth time that day. His fingernails had turned black, and were sparking with purple fire.

"You know if you keep staring in that mirror you'll get chapped lips." a voice came from his left.

He turned his head; and saw that Liz was standing in the doorway. She was wearing a pink nightgown that was cut low; and was extremely short. As he looked at her, his fingernails sparked again and sent a sharp pain through his body. He grit his teeth and recoiled under the pain.

Liz quickly walked over to him and put her hands on his shoulders.

"Hey, hey, hey look at me."

Jozy looked at her with a distressed expression.

"Breath, just breath." she said, hugging his head.

Jozy finally got a handle on the pain: looked at Liz. She gave him a soft smile; and then grabbed his hand. She brought it up to her face, and let it touch her ever so gently. His hands reacted to her skin and burst into a purple flame. Jozy got a worried look on his face; and tried to pull his arm away.

Liz stopped him, however, and eventually the flames died down. She removed his hand and touched where he had touched. Her skin was now baby soft.

"See no harm done. They're just like they used to be." she said, giving him a sweet smile.

Jozy gave her a weak smile in return, "Yeah, but that means my semblance can return as well."

"We both knew it was going to happen someday." she said; climbing on the bed and wrapping her arms around him.

"I know, but I at least thought I would have more time." he said.

"I understand, but you have to look at it this way. It's been 10 years since I sealed it so you shouldn't be surprised if the seal's starting to wear out." Liz said.

Jozy nodded, " Every time I think of my semblance I remember what I did to Ori."

"I know; but sealing it away forever won't change what happened. Besides a semblance THAT powerful could never be suppressed forever." Liz said; hugging him tighter.

Jozy pondered this for a moment.

"We should get ready for bed." he finally said; choosing to deal with it another time.

Liz gave him a soft smile; and got in bed. He soon followed her exhausted from the night before.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: I'm back and man I can't believe we've been through twenty chapters already. I just wanted to say thank you again to all of you who have supported me through this story. Well without further ado let's get into SHDW Facts.**

" _Liz's record for cups of coffee drank in a day is 10.5."_

 **Don't forget to favorite, follow, and review.**

"Reunion"

Yang busily prepared her bag for the harsh conditions outside Vale. It had been a few hours since Hikari left, and it had been decided that she would be the one to go after Ruby. She tied the laces and buckles on her boots; and slipped a duster over her muscular arms and buttoned it so it fit her snuggly. She picked up the goggles from Bumblebee; and slipped them onto her head; stopping just short of her eyes.

All the while Blake was watching her. Her teeth were leaving marks on her lips, she was biting so hard. Yang turned and looked at Blake. Her face immediately fell, she hated making her worry like this.

"We should probably get going." Yang said; slinging her bag over her shoulder.

Blake immediately grabbed her wrist; keeping Yang from the door.

"You don't have to go. I mean I can go and do just as well as you." Blake said, her head hung low.

Yang felt like she had heard that same line about a thousand times today. Needless to say she was fed up with hearing it. What happened next would change Yang and Blake forever. Whether it was out of anger, angst, anxiety, love, or lust was unknown to Yang; but she definitely knew it was something. She crashed her lips into Blake's and held her there for a moment.

Blake's eyes went wide with surprise for a moment before closing them. After a few seconds, Yang, withdrew and looked at Blake's face. She smirked a little when she saw Blake's flushed face and half-lidded eyes. She let go of Blake, much to the Faunus' displeasure, and picked up her bag.

"Now I have something to make sure I come back to. If that makes you feel any better." Yang said, in a soft voice.

Yang opened the door; and held it open. Blake walked out and Yang followed her. The went to the lounge where Hikari had thrown Cardin earlier. Weiss was already sitting on one of the couches waiting for her teammates. She heard them walk in, and turned her head towards them.

"There you guys are. I thought you forgot about me." Weiss said; crossing her arms.

"We didn't forget we… just had to set some things straight." Blake said; blushing a little.

Weiss looked at the both of them; and let out a heavy sigh, "You guys are just lucky that Hikari's friend isn't-"

"Team RWBY bickering amongst one another yet again." A voice came from the dark hallway opposite them.

They looked in the direction of the voice; and were surprised by what they saw.

"I mean I'm not surprised. I just had hoped that you all would have grown up a little." Neo said, stepping out of the darkness.

Her blue hair was tied back into a ponytail; and she wore a black and blue vest without sleeves. Her clothing from the waist down was pretty much the same, save for a color change to light blue accents.

"What are you doing here?" Yang said, her eyes turning red.

Neo held up her hand, "Relax Yang. I'm not here to fight. I'm the 'friend' Hikari talked about."

Yang's face dead panned, "You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope, so Hikari wanted me to fill you guys in on what exactly is happening inside the Deathwind. Basically Ruby has become apart of the Sequoia Tree's leadership; and takes orders directly from the Mannequin." Neo said.

"Yeah we got that part." Weiss said, an irritated look on her face.

"Then how about you shut the hell up; and let me get to my main point."

Weiss backed off and let Neo speak.

"Ruby is in possession of a 'Primal Semblance' one of the most powerful weapons ever granted to humanity. What exactly the semblance does is unknown, but we know that the only way you obtain one is from massive amounts of physical, or mental trauma. So if I would advise to which ever one of you are going to tread lightly around Ruby; and only ask her about it when she's ready." Neo finished.

Yang balled her hand into a fist as Neo told her these things.

"So which one of you is going with me?"

Yang stood up, "I am."

"Ah, the older sister going after the little sister. How cute, and expected."

"Shut up, Neo."

"Hey, I meant nothing by it." she said, turning to Weiss and Blake.

She threw a small silver device at them; which blake caught with her right hand.

"Have you guys ever heard of a huntsman named Jozy Glass?" Neo asked

"No." Weiss replied.

"Hikari wants you to look him up."

"Why?"

"Because, she feels that you will gain a lot of knowledge for finding something about him." Neo said.

She placed her hand on Yang's shoulder, "We'll be off now. Please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle and all times otherwise you'll lose that limb."

Yang's eyes went wide, "Wait, wha-"

She was cut off by Neo teleporting her.

The next thing she knew she was on her hands; and knees gasping for air. Neo was standing next to her completely fine,and smiling at her wheezing form.

"I must say for that being your first time being teleported, you did pretty well." Neo said; extending her hand towards Yang.

"You're kidding; that was probably the worst experience of my life." Yang responded; between coughs.

"It gets better the more times you do it."

Yang stood all the way up; and nodded toward her. She then turned to look around her new surroundings. It was very dark; and sand was blowing over the rundown stretch of road they were standing on. Up above the shattered moon was providing the most light, by illuminating the air with a blueish glow.

"Welcome to the Deathwind, Yang. The most piss poor stretch of land in all of Remnant, and Ruby is here somewhere." Neo said.

Yang felt a shiver run up her spine at her words.

"So any advice for me while I'm here?" she asked.

Neo looked at her, eyes half closed. "Just don't blow up the Sequoia Tree. They're your friends in this after all."

"I know. Thanks for everything Neo." Yang said, starting to walk into the wilderness.

"Yang!" Neo yelled after her.

Yang turned and found Neo with a determined look on her face.

"Good luck, and please find Ruby."

"Something that sentimental coming from you is like water in the middle of a desert." Yang said; a smirk growing on her face.

"Don't push your luck. I'm counting on the Sequoia Tree saving us all."

"You don't look like the betting type."

"I'm not, but we are all out of hope and all out of time. The only one who can beat Ironwood;and Atlas is the Sequoia Tree."

Yang looked at her feet, not sure if what Neo said was true.

"Don't believe me? Here's a piece of information that only I can give you. 30,000 Faunus slaves broke out of a Schnee Dust Company mine. In the last few hours they've made their way to Mistral; and are heading right for the Sequoia Tree, and guess who their leader is going to be."

Yang looked at her.

"Ruby Rose."

Yang didn't know how to respond to that. She just looked at the ground.

"Please treat this with some form of decency; and talk to the Sequoia Tree before blowing them to hell." Neo said; trying to stress the "don't kill them" part.

Yang nodded; and turned toward the wasteland. As she started walking she heard Neo teleport away. She steeled herself for the time being; this was going to be a long walk.

Hours passed and it was early morning. Ruby woke up with hefty yawn. She had slept well throughout the night, yet still felt tired. This was very unusual for her and plagued her mind with questions. She eventually decided that she would ask Liz about it after their meeting.

Ruby quickly grabbed a black sweatshirt; and a pair of red jeans and made her way to the Command tent. The Deathwind was warmer than usual and at times made Ruby regret her choice of clothing.

She finally made it to the Command Tent; and found that everyone was already there. She made her way to a pot of coffee; and grabbed a cup. She drank it black, since she felt to tired to do anything. As she took her seat she noticed that Saffeara was sitting at the table filling her claws. She was unusually quiet; and looked a little depressed. Ruby was about to ask her what was wrong, but missed her chance.

Jozy stood at the head of the table: a laptop in front of him.

"Welp, let's get this started. First I would like to congratulate you all on another successful mission." He said.

Ruby perked up, and looked at her teammates, "So what was the score?"

"All huntsmen and huntresses released." Tyler replied.

"Add to that the 30,000 faunus prisoners that are headed our way; and we have an overwhelming amount of new applicants." Saffeara added.

Jozy nodded, "Ruby the Faunus prisoners that have already arrived were put in your charge. How are they?" he asked.

Ruby looked at the table for a moment, "Liz and I went out yesterday and evaluated them, and the results were less than stellar. Only 1% met the qualifications; and all others were emaciated beyond belief. However, there was one redeeming factor about all of them." Ruby said.

"What's that?"

"Their hatred of Atlas almost rivals mine."

Ruby paused for a moment.

"So basically I have an army of shit; that has the hatred of Lions"

Jozy smiled a sinister smile, "Then we have the necessary tools to break the Atlysian military's back."

"It will take them at least two weeks to be in full fighting condition though." Liz cut in.

"Then we will wait two weeks; and allow Saffeara to put her feelers out." Jozy said.

"What about Ironwood?" Ruby asked.

"He's stuck in that bear trap known as Vale. They're stretched too thin; and can't move without losing Vale." Jozy replied.

Ruby nodded; and allowed Jozy to end the meeting. " _He's trapped? Finally the time where I can fillet the flesh from his bones is close. I will make him bleed like he did me."_ Ruby thought. Her eyes went wide as she shook her head. " _What was that? Why did I… I'm just tired."_ she thought, walking out of the tent.

An hour later she went to see Liz. She went up to the Medical Tent's flap and poked her head in.

"Liz?" Ruby asked

"I'll be out in a minute, Ruby! Make yourself at home!" Liz yelled, from somewhere farther back in the room.

Ruby strolled in and sat on the medical bed; it was the same one that she sat on during her first examination a month and half ago.

Liz finally made an appearance her face rosy: and a look of pure bliss on her face. Ruby looked at her with an amused expression.

"Are you alright, Liz." Ruby asked.

She took a minute to breath, "I'm alright."

"Then why do you look like you just went twelve rounds with a woman's magic wand?" Ruby asked; snickering to herself.

"Well Ruby, when you-" Liz stopped mid sentence; fully realizing what Ruby had just implied.

"I keep forgetting you're eighteen." she mumbled.

This made Ruby laugh. Liz shook her head and smirked as Ruby laughed; her cheeks dusted with pink at the thought. Ruby calmed down moments later.

"Anyway, what I was going to say is when a coffee addict like me has to pee. We really have to pee; and it feels like heaven." she said.

"Oh okay." Ruby said.

"So why did you come here?"

"Ah well ever since the raid I've been a lot more tired than usually am." Ruby replied.

Liz pulled out a piece of paper and started writing on it.

"I see are you sleeping well at night?"

"As far as I can tell I don't remember waking up."

"Okay, are you having nightmares?"

"If I am I don't remember them."

Liz nodded.

"Last question during the raid was your primal semblance active longer than usual?"

"Yeah." Ruby replied.

"Your semblance is just fatigued. It will probably return to normal in a day or two." Liz said; giving Ruby a smile.

Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. She hated to be sick and considering her circumstances this was probably the best outcome.

"Thank you. Liz ." Ruby said; jumping down from the bed.

"Your welcome. Oh yeah Ruby?"

"Hmm?"

"You might want to get rid of those pictures of your girlfriend before you see her again. Otherwise she might think you're a stalker." Liz said; a wide grin growing on her face.

Ruby's eyes went wide; and her face turned red as a beat, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Oh I think you do. By the way you should really learn to keep it down at night someone might begin to wonder what your doing in there all by yourself." Liz said; giving her a sly smile.

Liz was just teasing her. Truthfully Ruby was one of the quietest members of the Sequoia Tree.

Ruby covered her eyes with her hands, "Oh my god. I'm so sorry I was alone and bored so I just-"

Liz ran up to Ruby and grabbed her shoulders, "Wow, wow, wow calm down Ruby. I was just teasing you."

Ruby uncovered her eyes; and looked at Liz.

"You're a jerk sometimes Liz."

"Yeah, but you did kind of deserve it with the vibrator joke." Liz said; smiling at Ruby.

"Payback's a bitch then I guess." Ruby said; walking towards the door.

"Hey are you still good to go with the evaluations tonight?" Ruby asked, before she left.

"Yep, I'm good to go whenever you are." Liz replied.

Ruby nodded and left the tent.

Liz sat on the stool in the examination room; a smile on her face. " _She's like the kid I never had."_ Liz thought; chuckling to herself. Liz poured herself another cup of coffee;and took a few sips of it. Moments later she let out a heavy sigh, " _I have to pee again. Darn you Orchid for sitting on my bladder when you were inside of me."_ Liz cursed as she made her way to the bathroom again. When she came out she noticed her scroll was blinking. She unlocked it it and found that Jozy had sent a message to all high ranking member of the Sequoia tree leadership.

She opened the message and read it. " _Bandits sighted in the Deathwind. All personnel are to be on high alert for any possible intruders."_ Liz cocked an eyebrow and sent Ruby a message; asking if she had gotten the same message.

" _Yes."_ She replied.

" _Then is the examination still going on as planned?"_

" _No I asked Magnolia to postpone it for the time being."_ Ruby replied.

" _Okay thanks."_ Liz typed before setting her scroll down.

She scanned her desk and saw a tall stack of medical forms that still had to be filled out. " _Well it looks like I'll have a lot more free time to do these."_ Liz thought with a disgruntled look on her face.

"Screw it, I'm going to see what my husband's doing." She said; standing up and leaving her tent.

Hours later, Yang, had reached the area where Ruby's prison bus went missing. She had been walking for about a day; and she was exhausted. Luckily the sun had gone down and had given Yang some relief from the sun.

She walked at a brisk pace and eventually found the burned out carcasses of the prison bus and the military trucks. Black soot still covered the ground where the trucks had blown up. As Yang walked she touched the first truck; and looked at her palm. There were sploches of a red residue on her hand. " _A Therma Missile. Expensive and almost exclusively used by the Atlysian military. They must have stolen it."_ Yang thought to herself.

She went and dusted her hands off and continued to investigate the scene. As she neared the bus she noticed the bodies. Four, no six, no eight bodies were sprawled out on the ground. They were heavily decomposed and were filled with desert sand. They were like a standing symbol of Atlas's failure; and corruption. Yang looked up into the sky and saw the moon and the stars. " _Over a month ago Ruby was imprisoned; and then realised by force on this very spot."_ Yang thought. "She can't be far now."

Yang continued to walk and eventually found an old dilapidated shack and decided that it would be a good place to hold up. She took her bag off her back at started rummaging through it. She produced a lighter; and then started breaking some of the old wood off the building. She quickly made a fire with the wood. As she sat there and ate some of the food she had packed, whilst staring into the fire. Thoughts ran through her mind. They ranged from Ruby to the moments before she left with Blake. " _What have I done?"_ Yang thought with a smirk on her face. It was around that time that Yang noticed that her food was gone. She stood up and grabbed her bedroll; and laid it on the ground. She soon followed and stared up at the old rickety ceiling. Tomorrow she would have to go into the wildness and try to find any signs that Ruby had passed through there. Yang cringed at the thought of this, but banished the fear from her mind. She rolled over and went to sleep.

Elsewhere Ruby was sitting in her tent reading a book. Her read and white locks were tied back into a messy ponytail. She was ready for bed with a white tanktop; and a pair of short shorts. She was completely immersed in her book and was not paying attention as a black figure appeared in her room.

"Ruby." a voice said.

Ruby looked up from her book and got a surprise of her life. Jozy was standing in her tent looking at her with a raised eyebrow. She gasped in surprise and started coughing.

"How did you get in here?" she asked; looking at him and then the door.

"It doesn't matter. Grab your gear." Jozy ordered.

Ruby jumped up, "Bandits?"

"Yes and something else." Jozy replied walking out of her tent.

She quickly put her armor and mask on; and grabbed black feather. She ran after Jozy and found him standing on the southern edge of the Hole. He was surrounded by the creepy black and red cloaks of GHST squad. However, it was a look fitting of the most second most powerful team in the Sequoia Tree.

As Ruby got closer GHST squad turned and looked at her. Each of them had red eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness. Their hair was also the same midnight blue color. The looked at Ruby with a soulless, vacant stare. Ruby didn't know too much about GHST squad, but she did know that they were all family related and came from the same orphanage.

She walked passed them and found Jozy staring off into the wasteland that was the Deathwind. Dragon Razor was stuck in the sand in front of him and was being used like a makeshift cane.

"Ruby a person of interest has been captured by bandits. You are to rescue her; and bring her here." Jozy said, turning towards her.

"GHST squad is under your command; use them how you choose. Above all the target does not die. Am I clear?" he asked.

"Crystal." Ruby replied; throwing her shredded trench coat over her armor.

Ruby then turned to GHST squad, "Are you guys ready?"

"Yes, ma'am." they answered.

Ruby nodded; and changed her eyes to their alternate yellow-orange color. She activated her semblance and shot down the slope. GHST squad followed her with the aid of mechanical exoskeletons on their legs.

Meanwhile Yang was in quite the pickle. Around her stood six armed men; and two more that were searching her things. The guards were so close that even if she tried to activate Ember Celica she would be dead before she hit the floor.

"Hey how much do you think she'll sell for?" one guard asked another.

"She's got a nice rack; and a big ass. So probably a lot." he replied.

This left a bad taste in Yang's mouth. She had to get out of here somehow.

Outside Ruby and GHST squad had located the shake that Yang was in. Ruby slipped her mask off and bit her finger to the point that it bled. She had been doing this sporadically ever since she had been tortured. She felt her blood rush into her mouth; giving her a euphoric boost of adrenalin.

"Ma'am what are your orders?" a girl with black glasses asked.

Ruby removed her finger from her mouth and slipped her mask back on. Her self inflicted wound healing itself instantly.

"Sang, you're online. The rest of GHST squad is to help her." Ruby said; slipping her glove back on.

GHST squad nodded and ran down the sand dune.

Sang, ran up to a guard on the outside and broke his neck. Inside they heard the snap and were immediately put on edge. One went outside and was immediately stabbed by another member of GHST. Ruby appeared behind them in a flurry of rose petals.

"Now or never Sang." Ruby said, a hint of impatience in her voice.

"Relax, Scatter, we got this." Sang responded.

With that Sang kicked the door and ran into the room. The flustered men didn't have anytime to react as Sang pulled out six throwing knives and threw them. The knives embedded themselves in each of the men's chests. On was still convulsing on the round when Ruby walked in. She went over to him; and finished him off with a curb stomp.

"You missed one Sang." Ruby said.

Sang rolled her eyes.

Yang had been standing there the whole time in awe of what had just happened. However, her eyes widened even further as she recognized the voice coming from the person with white and red hair.

"Ruby?" Yang said; in a half whisper.

Ruby immediately tensed up from the sound of her sister's voice. She slowly turned her head; her eyes turning back to their normal silver color.

"Yang…"


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Okay I'm sorry for how long it took me to actually finish this chapter. Lately I've had so many school activities that I really haven't gotten a good amount of time to actually write. However, I am back and I just wanted to say thank you guys so much for all the support on this story. So please favorite, follow and review. These things are greatly appreciated and will also help me in improving this story.**

 _Fun fact: Whenever Ruby gets nervous she starts biting her fingers. This is due to the fact that the taste of her own blood helps to distract her from the potentially risky situation laid out before her._

"Not so bad."

Yang walked over to Ruby slowly and hugged her. Ruby was stiff as a board; still in shock from the sight of her sister. Ruby slowly moved her sister away from her and looked at her more closely. Yang gave her a confident smile; which quickly turned to concern as Ruby buried her head in her chest and started crying.

"Hey, Rubes. You okay?" Yang asked.

Ruby moved her head away from Yang.

"I missed you so much." Ruby said, pulling her mask down.

"I missed you too." Yang said; putting her hand on top of Ruby's head.

Yang got a surprise when she found her hand was raised a tad over her head.

"Heh, someone got taller while they were gone." Yang said, her bright grin returning.

Ruby scratched the back of her head, "Yeah, I guess."

"Um, this is very heartwarming, Scatter, but we are on the clock." a member of GHST squad informed her.

"Oh, right, um Yang. You'll need to wear these in order to meet the rest of the Sequoia Tree." Ruby said, pulling out a pair of handcuffs.

Yang looked at the handcuffs and then at Ruby, "Um, sure but one question why?"

"Because our soldiers are on edge. We weren't exactly prepared to deal with all new Faunus refugees; and you're the first person to come out of Vale in over two months. So let's just say the suspicion should be expected." Ruby explained.

Yang swallowed hard. She felt the uncertainty of what awaited her in the Sequoia Tree's root system. She proceeded to put the handcuffs on; and followed Ruby and GHST squad.

They crested the hill; and laid their eyes on the Sequoia Tree's Headquarters. It was still lively even though it was almost 1 a.m.

"Welcome to the Hole." Ruby said; making her way down the slope.

Yang, and GHST squad followed her down to the main entrance. There they were greeted two soldiers who were in full black combat armor; and armed to the teeth. They had night vision goggles attached to their helmets, which gave them creepy glowing green eyes.

"Welcome, back ma'am." One of them said; putting his goggles up on his helmet.

"It's good to be back." Ruby replied.

Yang's head was on a swivel as she entered the base. All around her she saw the members of the Sequoia Tree look at her. She got a smile on her face as she could feel the attention on her. She had always loved being the center of attention no matter where she was. The soldiers that were looking at her started whispering amongst themselves. Yang wondered what they were talking about, but the question left her mind when she bumped into Ruby who had stopped. The contact revealed that Ruby was actually wearing something rough and jagged underneath her trench coat.

"Good work, Ruby. I'll assume the that Yang is unharmed?" a voice asked Ruby.

Yang turned and saw the familiar green black hair of what she knew was the Mannequin.

"Yep, it'll take a lot more than a few bandits to knock me sister down." Ruby replied; a grin on her face.

Yang balled her hands into fists. She remembered what he did to her sister. Jozy looked over Ruby's shoulder and saw this. His bright red eyes deluded a little.

"If you want to hit me you'll need to take those off first." he said, snapping his fingers.

Yang watched as her handcuffs fell to the ground. All eyes were on her as she felt the area where the handcuffs had been. Ruby had a look of indifference on her face as she waited for Yang to make her choice. " _Welp, I know that everybody's counting on me; but right now some things can't be forgiven so easily."_ Yang thought as she cocked her fist back.

She ran at Jozy intending to hit him with the hardest punch she could. However, before she could get to her target, Ruby, grabbed her wrist. Yang looked up in surprise. The next moment went by in slow motion as Ruby clocked her sister in the eye; knocking her out. Yang slumped to the ground unconscious.

Ruby turned to Jozy, "Sorry about that I guess she still blames you."

"Don't worry about it. I was just going to block it with an ice shield anyway." Jozy replied.

He looked at the sprawled out form of Yang.

"Well, you should probably get her to the medical tent. I'll wake Liz." Jozy said; walking away.

"Come on you big brute." Ruby said; hoisting Yang over her shoulder.

A few hours later Yang woke up in a hospital bed surrounded by a white curtain. She felt a searing pain in her left eye as she looked around. When she looked at the rest of her body she found Ruby sound asleep in a chair next to her bed. She was slouched in the chair; and her head was laying on the side of Yang's bed. She appeared to be drooling and snoring happily. " _Man, Weiss would scold her right about now; for being too barbaric or something to that effect."_ Yang thought; absent mindedly. It was about this time that she noticed the puncture wounds on Ruby's wrists. This sent various thoughts through Yang's mind that were only compounded when Ruby shifted in her sleep. Her right arm fell off of Yang's bed and revealed scar tissue from a recent syringe puncture. " _Ruby Rose if you are addicted to drugs…"_ Yang never got to finish that thought when a woman gently pulled the curtain back. She looked to be in her early thirties with red and black hair and orange eyes. She was humming an unfamiliar tune as she walked over to her. Yang looked at her with one swollen eye and one good eye.

"Oh, you're awake fantastic." she said; almost dropping her clipboard.

Yang just stared at the strange, fidgeting, woman.

"Heh, sorry I just got up; and drank an entire pot of coffee." she said; putting her hands behind her back.

"It's okay." Yang said.

Happy that she had established some form of communication with the blonde she turned to Ruby.

"Wake up, slacker." Liz said; whilst flicking Ruby in the head.

Ruby groggily looked up and saw Yang was awake.

"Yang! I'm so glad you're awake." Ruby said; suddenly filled with energy.

Yang smiled, "Glad to see you too, Rubes; but what happened and how did I get here?"

"Oh, I carried you here after knocking your lights out."

"Oh, okay. Wait what?" Yang looked at her incredulously.

"Well you did try to hit Jozy first." Ruby said, an innocent look adorning her face.

"But-" Yang was cut off by Liz who stepped in between the two girls.

"Okay, that's enough girls." she said.

No one challenged her authority since she was giving off a menacing presence. She walked over to Ruby and placed her hands on her shoulders.

"Sweety have you taken your medicine?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am." Ruby replied.

"Good girl. Now I want you to go to your tent and get some sleep."

Ruby nodded and exited the medical tent.

Liz turned to Yang, "Sorry about that, Ruby, hasn't been sleeping well lately and I wanted her to get some sleep."

"I thought you just wanted to keep us from fighting." Yang said; a smile on her face.

"Maybe I did; maybe I didn't" Liz said, giving Yang a wink.

Liz pulled a stool over to Yang. She was holding a bottle with a green liquid and a cotton swab inside of it.

"I will tell you this your sister gave you one hell of a black eye."

"I still can't believe she hit me."

"Well, you did almost attack my husband."

Yang's one good eye went wide,

"You're the Mannequin's wife?" she asked.

"Yep, 12 years in counting. His name is Jozy by the way." Liz replied.

"Oh." Yang said; awkwardly.

Liz pulled the cotton swab out of the bottle and moved it closer to Yang's eye.

"This might sting a bit; but I'll try to be gentle."

Yang nodded and allowed Liz to treat her eye.

"It's funny you're like a mother to Ruby."

"Well I basically have been since she got here. I mean I finished her training, cooked her meals for her, and am with her about 90% of the day." Liz said; throwing the cotton swab away; and put the lid back on the vial.

"Okay, so your eye should be back to normal in a few hours. Don't touch it whatever you do otherwise it won't heal as fast." Liz said; writing on her clipboard.

"Umm, you wouldn't happen to have something I could cover it up with, would you?" Yang asked.

"Right, sorry I'm still really tired." Liz said; pulling open a drawer.

She dug around until she produced a white medical eyepatch. She handed it to Yang who gently put it on.

"It looks cute, Yang." Liz said, with a sincere smile.

"Thanks I guess." Yang replied, with an awkward smile and a dusting of red on her cheeks.

Yang suddenly realized she had no idea where Ruby's tent was, and since she had nowhere else to stay she would need to find that out.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Ruby's tent is would you?" Yang asked.

Liz nodded and lead Yang out of the medical tent. She pointed towards the southern end of the camp.

"It's the biggest tent on the southern side of the Hole. Trust me you can't miss it." she said.

Yang nodded and gave Liz her thanks; and started to walk over to Ruby's.

She had little trouble finding Ruby's tent since it was slightly bigger than all the others. Yang poked her head in. She saw Ruby sound asleep in her bed, snoring lightly. She entered the tent and found that a second bed had been put in for her. On top of it was a bag of clothes and other basic necessities. She made her way over to her bed to retrieve the bag; but almost tripped on her way there. Her foot hit a hard object on the floor and almost in turn threw her on the floor.

Yang stumbled over to Ruby's desk and turned on the light. White light filled the tent and burned Yang's one good eye. Her eye adjusted and found that the desk was covered in various pieces of paper and a few drawings. Yang heard Ruby shift in her bed and turned to look at her. Ruby was still sound asleep and had turned away from the new source of light. Yang started shuffling through the papers on Ruby's desk. There was a huge stack of report forms that made up the majority of the mess that was the desk. It took Yang a few minutes to find anything important. She found a medical form specific to Ruby buried under some old drawings. An aura of confusion enveloped Yang as she read the form. " _15 broken bones all healed in a matter of seconds? Arteries so badly damaged they couldn't operate correctly; all healed and operating at above average intervals? Ruby what happened to you?"_ Yang thought as she read.

She continued to read until she reached a section that went completely over her head. " _Primal semblance? What the hell?"_ Yang thought. She looked over to Ruby again and saw that she was still asleep. She put the form down and looked at the more random things on her desk she found a picture of Ruby and Liz with the words "happy graduation" written on the back of it. She also found a drawing of Team RWBY that her sister had made. Yang smirked to herself and put the drawing back on the desk. She walked over to the beds and finally saw what she had tripped on. Ruby had stripped her armor off and left it on the floor. Yang pushed it out of the way; and made her way over to her bed. Shifting the armor appeared to make Ruby uneasy and caused her to shift in her sleep. When she shifted it revealed that Ruby had stripped her armor off and went to bed nude. Yang smacked herself in the head as she saw her sisters exposed chest.

"Wow, you've been living alone for too long, Rubes. You even forgot you had company." Yang said; covering her sister up.

She made sure to tuck her in; and finally kissed on on the forehead before going to bed herself. When she laid down Yang realized that she was more exhausted than she thought. She fell asleep quickly that night.

The next morning Yang woke up to the metallic sound of metal. She slowly opened her one good eye and looked over towards Ruby. She was sitting on her bed sharpening black feather. Yang was glad to see that Ruby was fully clothed this time, in a pair of black short shorts and a white tank top. As she snooped on her sister, Yang, noticed that Ruby was sweating and her muscles were swollen. One strap of Ruby's tank top had fallen down as well, but the younger girl paid no mind to it.

" _Did she just get done working out?"_ Yang asked herself. Yang sat up slowly and put her hand up and felt the eye patch on her face. The memory of her getting it was still fresh in her mind.

"Morning Yang!" Ruby said; hearing her sister get up.

As she turned she saw the eye patch for the first time; and got a grave look on her face.

"I didn't put out your eye did I?" Ruby asked; a hint of fear in her own eyes.

Yang chuckled a bit, "No, Liz just gave me this so my eye would heal."

Ruby let out a sigh, "That's a relief. Listen we have to leave in the next ten minutes so can you get dressed, or would you like some help?" Ruby asked.

"Nah, I got it. Where are we going this early in the morning?" Yang asked.

"We're going to the daily meeting that the leaders of the Sequoia Tree have." Ruby said, turning around.

Yang immediately saw the puncture wounds on Ruby's back that looked remarkably like the ones on her wrists, knees, and ankles.

"Ruby?" Yang asked.

"Hmm?"

"Are you alright? You're back, it looks like something happened to it."

"Oh I'm fine, Yang. Don't worry about it." Ruby said; giving her sister a sincere smile.

Yang nodded and started digging through the bag of clothes she was given. There was a multitude of clothes of various sizes, colors, and shapes. She eventually found a purple bra; and a matching pair of painties. She quickly changed into them while Ruby wasn't looking and continued searching for something to cover herself with. She found a black tank top and a pair of black short shorts and decided to wear those. She finally put the finishing touches on her outfit with a necklace that had a purple gem on it; and placing her goggles neatly on her head. She grabbed Ember Celica and put them on her wrists.

"Wow, you look good sis!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Thanks." Yang said, blushing a little.

Ruby nodded; and took her tank top off rather unexpectedly. Her shorts then followed, and Ruby started to put her Reflex armor on. She stripped so fast that Yang barely had any time to tell what just happened. Ruby had put her leg armor on by this point and was putting the rest of her armor on.

"Hey, Yang can you help me zip the back up?" Ruby asked.

"Sure."

Yang zipped that last zipper on Ruby's armor; and jumped when the Dust-tipped probes jabbed themselves into Ruby's joints and spine.

"Did I do something wrong?" Yang asked; trying to stay calm.

"Nope, that is supposed to happen." Ruby said; stretching her arms and legs.

She could feel that raw burning power that the Dust gave her muscles and joints.

"We should probably get going." Ruby said; opening the tent flap for her sister.

Yang stepped out of the tent and into the intense sunlight. She was amazed when she saw a plethora of Sequoia Tree soldiers marching past Ruby's tent. Amongst the footsteps she heard a loud banging sound. It soon was found to be footsteps as well; from a very tall man in tan Reflex Armor. He had a skull face carved into the visor on his black helmet and appeared very intimidating to Yang. He lifted the visor on her helmet: and met Yang's one good purple eye with his cobalt blue ones. He raised his hand and Yang took it. He squeezed her hand and in turn she squeezed his. The veins in their arms popped out from the stress and were a magnificent sight.

Tyler got a smirk on his mustached face; and let go of Yang's hand.

"It looks like young Ruby was not wrong when she said, 'you were a mountain of muscle." he said.

At this point Ruby had joined the both of them outside.

"However, I believe you were supposed to be taller." Tyler said.

"Fuck you, Tyler, I said she was supposed to be taller than me not you." Ruby said.

Tyler laughed, " I know; I was just teasing you."

"So did the bandit clearing mission go well?" Ruby asked noticing the influx of soldiers.

"Oh yeah, we wiped them out."

"Any dead? Wounded?"

"A few were wounded but that's about it."

"Jozy will be glad to hear that." Ruby said, as she started walking with Tyler.

Yang followed them; interested in what would be said next.

"Did you hear the news?" Tyler asked.

"No, what's up?" Ruby asked.

"Mistral broke off ties with Atlas. it's now helping the Faunus Refugees." Tyler replied; smiling.

"You're shitting me." Ruby asked; with an incredulous look on her face.

"I'm afraid not. Jozy has even better news, but I'll save that for when we get to the command tent." Tyler said, picking up the pace of his walking.

Yang was stunned by the fact that Mistral succeeded from Atlas. It was basically a kick in the balls to the Atlysian military; and was an equally bigger kick in the balls to the Schnee Dust Company since Mistral was the largest importer of Dust in the world.

"Ironwood's probably pissed." Yang mentioned.

"Oh, he is. He's been on the radios and TVs ever since the secession, he even threatened war on Mistral." Tyler said.

"That sounds like him." Ruby said.

Tyler snickered, "However the threat fell on deaf ears, because unlike the rest of the world Mistral's not stupid."

It was about that time that they made it to the command tent. Yang could smell the scent of food coming from it and it made her mouth water. They entered and Yang noticed Tourniquet sitting at the table. He still had his bandages on; and appeared to be staring into space. Across from him was a woman that Yang had never seen before. Her hair was dyed purple and blue and her pink eyes shone like crystal. However, she wore a downcast expression on her face as she ate her cereal. Yang decided it would probably be best not to speak to her since she appeared to be having a bad day.

Yang took her seat next to Ruby and waited for the meeting to start. Suddenly a plate of food was placed in front of her.

"Here you go, Yang." Liz said; giving her a smile.

"So you cook here too, huh?" Yang asked picking up a fork.

"Honey, I do everything around here. I practically make the world go round." Liz replied.

"That she does. Morning Yang." Jozy said, emerging from an area outside the tent.

"Morning." Yang replied the events of the previous night coming back to her.

She turned to Liz, and pointed to her eyepatch. "Later." Liz mouthed to her.

Yang turned her attention back to Jozy as she ate.

"Okay, people I'll assume you heard the news out of Mistral last night?" Jozy asked.

They all mumbled amongst themselves and nodded.

"Okay, since you all already know that I'll let Saffeara fill you in on a very special message we received last night." Jozy said.

Saffeara stood up and took in a breath, "Around 5 a.m. Mistral announced they were breaking off ties with Atlas; almost simultaneously a we recieved a message from the high councilman of the Mistral Council asking for a Decree of Friendship between the Sequoia Tree and the Kingdom of Mistral." Saffeara finished and took her seat.

The fell into silence the words were almost to good to be true.

"So what's the catch?" Tyler asked.

"The catch is Mistral needs a unanimous vote in order to finalize the deal." Jozy responded.

Kale made a gurgling sound towards Jozy.

"No, they can't get a unanimous vote: because there are at least four members that are still loyal to Atlas."

Everyone's expressions fell. Even Yang felt herself get depressed.

"So what's the plan then?" Ruby asked.

"I'm glad you asked." Jozy said, standing up and pointing towards the map behind him.

"As you all know Mistral is the second richest Kingdom in all of Remnant. Needless to say it's dignitaries are some of the richest men in the world, and these four men are no different. They live in lavish house; and have sluts on the payroll. Now where do you think they keep all of their money?"

No one gave an answer.

"They keep it literally under their feet in a mansion meant for showing off; and luckily for us they have a fundraiser planned for tomorrow. Dignitaries from all over Remnant will be present and so will we." Jozy said, looking over at Liz.

Liz produced five invitations from her jacket; and gave them to their respective owners.

"Are you going too, Liz?" Ruby asked.

"That I am." Liz replied.

"Okay guys another piece of information. We will be going in rifled." Jozy said.

Yang got a confused expression on her face, "What's that?"

"It's where we use military use firearms instead of our regular weapon's." Tyler replied.

"Oh."

"Now that I think of it I had a question for you, Yang." Jozy said.

"Hmm?"

"How good are you with explosives?"

A few minutes later the meeting ended, and Yang and Ruby emerged into the arid desert air. Yang shielded her one good eye from the sun; and looked over to Ruby. She saw her sister stretch her arms in a tired way. " _Doesn't that suit hurt to have on?"_ Yang thought to herself. Ruby felt her sister looking at her and turned towards her.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Oh nothing. I just remembered that I have to go to Liz and have my eye looked at again." Yang half lied.

"Do you need any help getting there?" Ruby asked.

"I think I got it. Besides I found your tent easily enough." Yang said, her signature grin on her face.

"Okay, I'll see you when you get back." Ruby said.

With that the two girls parted ways.

Yang found the medical tent with relative ease and was prepared to go in until she heard voices from inside. She looked to see if anybody was around her and found that she was alone. She carefully opened the tent flap ever so slightly and peered in. She saw Saffeara sobbing profusely talking to Liz.

"I can't control it anymore Liz. I can feel the hunger growing inside of me. I want human meat so bad." she sobbed.

"Saffeara you need to calm down. If I give you anymore suppressants you'll die." Liz said; rubbing her back.

"Liz you don't understand. I can't go cold turkey again; and eventually I'll kill somebody and I don't want it to be any of you." Saffeara said.

Liz hated seeing Saffeara like this. She originally thought that she had fixed Saffeara's problem only to see her like this months later.

"Okay, listen I have a theory concerning things that will satisfy your hunger." Liz said.

Saffeara got a ray of hope in her eyes.

"Although you'll have to wait until after the mission tomorrow. Do you think you can make do?" Liz asked.

"Yes if all goes well I can make it." Saffeara said; standing up.

She wiped her eyes; and said her goodbyes to Liz. Yang dropped the flap and hid behind the right wall of the tent. Saffeara walked out none the wiser; a lighter look plastered on her face. Yang came out of her hiding place and went over to the medical tent. She stuck her head in and saw Liz sitting on her stool; her head in her hands.

"Liz?" Yang asked.

Liz looked up and got a smile on her face when she saw Yang.

"Hey Yang." she responded.

"If this a bad time I can always come back." Yang said.

"Nonsense every time is a good time. Besides I have to check on that eye of yours." Liz said, putting on a pair of latex gloves.

Yang sat on the bed and allowed Liz to remove the eye patch. The coolness of Liz's gloves gave Yang an odd feeling of relaxedness. Yang squinted as her eye was exposed to light for the first time in a while.

"Well that's interesting." Liz said; jotting a note down on her scroll.

"What is?" Yang asked, nervously.

Liz handed her a small mirror, "See for yourself."

Yang looked in the mirror and found that her injured eye had turned red. It looked like her semblance was activated in only one eye.

Yang sighed, "Great now I look like a clown."

Liz chuckled a bit, "You can keep the eye patch if you want; but I think it looks good. Very mysterious and cool."

"Thanks Liz; I'll probably wear it when I'm in public." Yang said, picking up the eyepatch and putting it in her back pocket.

"We'll besides the coloration your eye is completely healthy. It's probably just your aura trying to heal the rest on its own." Liz said.

Yang nodded, but there was something else she wanted to ask her.

"Hey, Liz is Ruby okay?" Yang asked.

"I believe so; why do you ask?"

"It's just I found a medical form in her tent last night; and I really couldn't make sense out of any of it."

Liz reclined back in her seat, "It's probably best that Ruby explain it to you."

Liz closed her eyes and then reopened them; her orange eyes glowing brighter.

"Come on out, Ruby." Liz said, looking at the opening of the tent.

The flap slowly opened and Ruby walked in.

"How long did you know I was there?" she asked.

"Just now, but you should know that you can't hide from me, Ruby." Liz said; her eyes returning to their normal shade of orange.

Liz picked up a scalpel from a nearby tray: and threw it at Ruby. Ruby caught it with relative ease.

"Now show Yang what a Primal Semblance is." Liz commanded.

Ruby closed her eyes and opened them again. In doing this she changed her eye to their orangish yellow form. She then buried the sharp instrument deep in her palm. She cut all the way across her hand and made sure that the blood ran down her arm. She then balled her hand into a fist and held it in front of Yang. She slowly opened her fist and found that the only thing that was left was a scar that ran the length of her palm.

Yang was astounded by this and stared at her sister's hand intently. Her stare was only broken when Liz handed Ruby a towel and took the scalpel away from her. Ruby cleaned the blood off her arm and started to bite on her fingers.

Liz put her arm around Ruby; this action seemed to calm the nervous girl down a bit.

"Ruby has a primal semblance that allows her to heal beyond a normal person's aura. Now we're both here to answer your questions so ask away." Liz said.

With that Yang asked all of the questions that had been building up in her mind over the last two months. Liz helped Ruby answer the more complicated questions; and gave her some support as she retold the events of just how she discovered her primal semblance.

Yang tried to absorb the new information as best she could. However, the reality of what had happened to Ruby stunned her. She wrapped her sis up in a hung and tried not to suffocate her.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't save you." Yang said.

Ruby got a soft smile on her face, " Don't worry Yang it was my own stupid fault for playing hero."

"Still Weiss is going to kill you when she finds out." Yang said.

Both girls started to laugh which made Liz happy. This made her remember another task she was supposed to do.

"Oh yeah I just remembered I have your guy's dresses for the fundraiser tomorrow" Liz said; going back farther into the tent.

"Who needs help learning how to walk in heels?!" Liz yelled back.

Ruby turned as white as her hair, dreading the "lady stilts". This was going to be hell.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: And we're back. SO great to see you guys again and I'm just all pumped up and hyper from seeing all of the new RWBY news that I could scream. *Takes deep breath. Okay well I had to break this chapter into two parts because it would have been way too long to be one chapter and I also wanted to get this chapter to you guys at a decent time for you guys because I love you so much. I would also like to mention again that your feedback is greatly appreciated so don't be afraid to review, follow, or favorite. Hell, you can even PM me and I will try to answer your story related questions to the best of my ability. That's all I wanted to say so I will see you guys in the next chapter:)**

"The Fundraiser Part 1"

Weiss stared at the holographic computer screen with bloodshot eyes. She and Blake had been pouring through Beacon's files for two days straight trying to find any information on Jozy Glass. Weiss took another sip of coffee as she hit the search icon again. At this point she was pretty sure this was the definition of insanity. The search result came up with nothing and Weiss smacked her head on the desk again. Blake looked over at Weiss with an amused look on her face.

"Still nothing?" she asked.

"What do you think?" Weiss said; shooting a glare at Blake.

Blake smiled at went back to her computer. She had given up on Beacon's records earlier and used some White Fang know how to get into Vale's records. She typed in Jozy's name and her eyes lit up when she saw that there was one result.

"Um, I think I found something." Blake said.

"You've got to be kidding me. I was up all night trying to find this guy and you do it in an hour." Weiss said; moving over to Blake's computer.

"Well you do know I was a member of the White Fang at one point." Blake said; with a sly look.

"Don't remind me." Weiss said.

Blake opened the profile and started to read.

"Okay so he was a huntsmen, attended Beacon at age seventeen, no prior history beyond that, he was married with one kid; and he mysteriously vanished 10 years ago and was later declared dead along with his wife." Blake said.

Weiss processed the information and immediately noticed that most of what Blake said did not match up. Beacon always kept records of their huntsmen and huntresses and only deleted the records by mistake. They would then quickly recover them. Weiss had never heard of a school deleting the records of a fellow huntsmen.

"Didn't you say he had a kid?"

"Yes, he had a daughter named Orchid Glass. Who was mortally wounded, but somehow survived and was adopted by a family in Haven." Blake said.

"Okay, so all we have to do is find Orchid and talk to her." Weiss said; a new form a confidence found in her.

"That's easier said than done. Apparently she ran away from home a month ago and has not been seen since then." Blake said.

She watched as Weiss deflated like a balloon. Weiss then put her hand on her head and squeezed her eyebrows together in frustration.

"Okay so where do we go from here?" Weiss asked.

"I guess we tell Hikari what we found." Blake said; standing up from her desk

Weiss nodded and was prepared to leave the library; but felt her scroll vibrate. She let out a sigh; and dug in her jacket and produced the vibrating machine. She read the text she had just received from her father and her eyes went wide.

"What's wrong?" Blake asked.

"My father would like me to attend a business party… in Mistral." Weiss said.

"Are you prepared for something like that on such short notice?" Blake asked.

"Of course, a Schnee is prepared for anything at all times. However, there one thing I don't have."

"Oh, and what's that?"

"I don't have a body guard." Weiss admitted.

She put her hand over her mouth in a thinking position. It had been forever since she had to get a bodyguard. It had been so long that she couldn't even remember who her last bodyguard was. She finally let out a sigh and shook her head. She could not remember anyone for the life of her.

She then looked at Blake, who had her hands behind her back, and an idea formed in her head.

"Hey, Blake, you wouldn't happen to be doing anything tonight would you?" Weiss asked.

Blake smirked at her, "Luckily for you I'm not."

"Great, so do you have a dress?" Weiss asked; opening the door and walking out.

Blake followed her rather quickly, "I do, but I don't think I can hide Gambol Shroud while wearing it."

"Don't worry about that, I've been doing this for years there's a trick I can show you." Weiss said; a sadistic smile growing on her face.

"Why does that scare me?" Blake asked; smile on her face.

Both continued to their dorm and started to prepare for their sudden trip.

Meanwhile, Jozy was sitting in the tent that he shared with Liz. He was sitting in his bathroom staring at himself in the mirror. He was still wearing his leg armor, but his chest armor was gone revealing his undershirt. It was black and had a mired of holes torn in it. Its collar went up to his chin and was torn up as well as his sleeves.

He had his hand held up to his temple trying to stave off a migraine. He grit his teeth as the ringing in his ears intensified, and brought memories from the darkest part of his mind. The memories were coated in red as he heard the screams of his daughter and a multitude of others. His eyes darted around the room as he felt a needle pierce his eyelids and sew them shut. This happened to his mouth as well and then he heard a voice; a female voice.

"You look so pretty now. I wonder how it would look on your wife?"

Jozy realized that he was hanging from the ceiling by a chain; and had all of his clothes removed. The bones in his arms and hands had been broken; and had pierced through his skin which left him bleeding. He could feel the sweat dripping from his head, drenching his hair, and moving down to his mouth. Through the holes in the thread that now held his mouth shut he found that his sweat was mixed with blood.

He then heard a door open and the signature clicking of glass heels on a hard floor. She had returned. His torturer, the master of fire. Now the only thing he wanted was to die; the only place that he knew would truly be safe from pain was death.

The memory suddenly ended and his eyes and mouth were opened. He was in a black void and in the center of it was a figure. In the black nothingness that was this place he was the sol illuminator that looked like a miniature sun. Jozy looked at himself and found that he was now dressed in a black robe that went down to cover his feet and took a step forward and the figure turned. It was neither man nor woman, but it was most definitely human. It had no face instead its entire body was swirling gold energy that had no physical characteristics of a human besides the shape.

"I'm still in my head aren't I?" Jozy asked; dryly.

The figure floated closer, "That you are, Marked One, and I was the one who brought you here."

The figure spoke with a genderless voice that seemed to echo through the void.

"I thought so." Jozy said, looking around.

"Do you remember me?" it asked.

"I do, Forbidden One." Jozy asked.

The figure shifted its position.

"Although I thought you died since I haven't heard from you in years. Why are you here?"

"I had been sealed for years; and asleep longer than that, you should know that I cannot die. Also my old master has been around." Forbidden said.

"I know and why can't you go back with him again?"

"Because I've been stuck with you too long. You are my master now; and I am your Primal Semblance."

"I take it you're not too happy about that."

"It's not so bad, but I would like to know what I'm suppose to do here."

"Sleep until I call on you. Anyway I have to get going so can I please get out of here?" Jozy asked; somewhat irritated.

"As you wish." Forbidden said; creating a door out of thin air.

"By the way, Archangel, should be waking as well." Forbidden yelled; as Jozy walked out of the door.

Jozy was transported back to his bathroom; and found that he had been in a trance the whole time. He placed his hand on his head and looked up at the ceiling. " _Man my life sucks."_ he thought. Just then he heard the flap of the tent open.

"I'm back!" Liz yelled as she entered.

" _Hmm, maybe it's not so bad."_ he thought; a smile growing.

"Welcome back." Jozy said kissing her.

Liz returned the kiss; and turned back to the bag she had brought back with her.

"So I gave the girls their dresses and you should have seen their faces." Liz said; digging through the bag.

"Were they the greatest thing you've ever seen?" Jozy asked.

"No, but it was something unique." Liz replied, producing her own dress from the bag.

Jozy went over and looked at the tux he would wear tonight. It was simple with nothing too flashy; he would just have to change out of it anyway. He thought back to what, Forbidden, had said earlier and looked at Liz. he then thought of all the people around him and what the effect he could have on him. He banished the thought from his mind; and decided to focus more on the mission at hand. Both for his sake; and for the people he cared about the most.

"Hey, I got a shipment in from the Vale outpost." Jozy said; putting a box on the table in the room.

"Oh cool, so they finally got a man inside."

"Yep, and this package I specifically ordered so that you could take a look at it." Jozy said, opening the box.

Liz made her way over to the box, and took a look inside. Inside of the long box was a old rusty piece of metal; that had what appeared to be a long pole attached to the end of it. The surface was caked in mud, but Liz could faintly see sploches of red paint under the mud. Liz brushed her hand against hard surface; and recognized it as being a receiver.

"Is this…" Liz trailed off.

"The remains of the first Crescent Rose, yes. I know you just got Kale's rifle done so I thought now would be a good time to ask you to fix it." Jozy said

Liz picked up what was left of the sniper scythe and hefted it out of its box. She turned the hunk of metal and then placed it back in its box.

"You know I'm not a miracle worker, right?" Liz asked; a concerned expression on her face.

"I know, but you are the smartest person I know. Also I know how much you love to work with sniper rifles." Jozy said; a smirk growing on his face.

Liz rolled her eyes. Of all the weapons she had worked with; sniper rifles were probably her most hated. Every measurement was so precise that it made her want to pull her hair out; this was also the reason why it had taken her over two years to get Kale's rifle, Reflection Breaker, back in working order.

"Well, since I have nothing better to do with the next three years of my life. I'll see what I can do." Liz said; sarcastically.

This made Jozy laugh as Liz picked up the box and walked out of the tent, a smile on her face as well.

She dropped the box off at the cave where the Sequoia Tree's R&D department was located. She then picked up the box that held Reflection Breaker; and made her way over to the lookout post, where Kale was most likely to be.

"Kale!" Liz yelled; opening the door to the small lookout building.

She heard a low gurgle coming from the chair off to her left. She turned to see Kale sitting on a chair, his feet up, and reading a comic book.

"Good to know that the person who is suppose to be watching over us is slacking off." Liz said, jokingly.

Kale looked up and answered her with one finger. Liz laughed a little; but then got a confused expression as Kale gurgled something at her.

"Come on you know that I can't understand your sounds like Jozy can." Liz said.

Kale put his comic book down and started speaking in signs. Liz could understand this since she had read a book on sign language.

"Yes, I know it wasn't your fault that your tongue was cut out; and I'm here because I finally got it finished." Liz said: putting the box on the table that Kale had his feet on.

Kale got up and opened the box eagerly; and lifted Reflection Breaker out of its box and practically started drooling on it through his bandages. Liz snapped her fingers in front of Kale's eyes.

"Hey, ginger, you still with me?" Liz asked.

Kale got a "really?" expression on his face. Before he dyed his hair dark gray his hair was a bright reddish orange; and ever since Liz first met him she had proceeded to call him "ginger".

"Heh, I thought that would get your attention." Liz said; a playful smile on her face.

Kale put Reflection Breaker on his back; and removed the retractable blades on his Reflex Armor and placed them in the box. The broken one one almost activated just from the shock of placing it inside its new container.

"Yep, I'm incinerating these." Liz said.

Kale nodded and signed his thanks to Liz who returned them, although she had one more question to ask him.

"Hey, since you know about sniper rifles than I do; you wanna help me with something?" Liz said; hope filling her eyes.

Kale looked back to the windows of the lookout post and then held up his hand in reference to them. Liz got an annoyed expression on her face.

"It's not like you were doing your job anyway." Liz said, whilst pointing at the comic book.

Kale just simply shrugged his shoulders and nodded towards Liz. She got a satisfied smile on her face and walked out of the building, Kale following close behind.

They made their way to the cave where R&D was located and started their preparations for a new project. Liz traded in her lab coat for an old t-shirt: and jeans. Luckily she had decided not to wear her armor under the coat so it made the process easier. Kale removed his bandages and his robe and put some heavy duty gloves on. Kale's face was not badly scarred as people would think. He had one long scar that ran from the opening of his mouth to close to under his form that he looked normal except for a few smaller scars here and there. Liz guessed that he wore the bandages to create the illusion that he was hurt much worst than he actually was.

He help Liz lift the mangled monstrosity that was Crescent Rose onto the table; and looked at the rough blueprints that she had already made. They were very ornate; and screamed the words "Sequoia Tree".

"Okay Kale, you know your way around a sniper rifle and I know how to make it look cool. SO we can just take it from there." Liz said; picking up a weilding mask.

Kale nodded and started putting tools on the table and some extra weapon grabbed one of the weapon parts and started to weld it onto the hunk of metal. " _Okay, Crescent Rose, show me what your made of."_ Liz thought. They worked up until they had to leave later that night. Ruby, Yang, Saffeara, Tyler, Kale, Liz and Jozy piled into a n unmarked Bullhead all dressed in their formal attire. The fundraiser awaited them.

They arrived in Mistral an hour later; and made their way to the Councilmen's estate. They went up to the guard and presented their tickets, which he happily accepted. Yang and Ruby went inside and were astounded by the lavish building. All around them the walls were trimmed with gold; and the floors were made of cut marble. The tables that everyone were being seated at were made of cherry wood; and all the dinner plates were made out of silver. Ruby saw foods that she had never even seen before; and ladies with expensive jewelry and dresses were gingerly eating them.

Ruby felt very out of place even though she did look the part of young aristocrat. Her dress was red with a single strap that came off the center and wrapped around her left shoulder and connected to the back. The dress itself seemed to swirl around her chest, waist, and finally her thighs. It ended at her knees; and accentuated her white heels. Truthfully, Ruby still had a hard time walking in her heels, but she had improved immensely since the first school dance. No matter what she said she was still a girl and needless to say she felt pretty and confidant. She politely made her way through the crowd of people and found her sister watching Saffeara seduce some information out of a naive guard.

Yang looked as beautiful as Ruby did. She had a dark purple dress that hugged her more pronounced features wonderfully. It appeared to twist down her legs: and frilled out at the bottom to reveal her black stilettos. She was still wearing the eyepatch that Liz had given her, but it didn't detract from the way she looked at all. Even though she complained for over an hour about wearing it.

She walked up behind, Yang, who was entranced by Saffeara who was working her magic on the poor guard.

"You thinking about cheating on Blake, sis?" Ruby asked, a sly smile painted across her face.

Yang snapped out of her trance rather quickly, "Of course not, I just find it amazing how good she is. Besides Blake is scarier than Saffeara."

"To you maybe, my whipped sister." Ruby said; teasing her.

Yang punched her sister in the arm; and got a pout on her face. Before Ruby, could tease her sister any further, Saffeara, rejoined them.

"Sad to see I missed the salty fireworks over here." Saffeara said; noticing the girl's expressions.

"Yeah I bet you are; so what did you find out?" Yang asked; a little dejectedly

"Haha, nothing we didn't know already, Yang," Saffeara said; putting her hand on Yang's shoulder.

"Well, I guess that can't be helped. Was he cute at least?" Yang asked.

"Ha, yes he was; but he'll need to be… bigger to impress me." Saffeara said; wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"You're a savage Saffeara." Ruby said; a smirk on her face.

Saffeara shrugged, " What can I say corporate espionage teaches you some things; and

also knows who to satisfy certain… needs." she said whilst licking her lips.

"That's kind of disgusting." Yang said.

Saffeara shrugged again, "It wasn't that gross; besides I only did it like twice it wasn't like everyday."

"You have no shame, Saffeara." Ruby said.

"Well, you're right on that part, Ruby." Saffeara confirmed.

At this point Tyler arrived, and overheard the end of their conversation. He had a glass of champagne in his hand; and wore a tux with a yellow bow tie.

"Nice to know we are talking of sophisticated things at this place." Tyler said; a smirk growing under his mustache.

"Ha, you and I both know that all these women are whores; and talk like this is sophisticated to them." Saffeara said; in a half whisper.

"That is true." Tyler said; taking a drink.

Ruby looked around at all the women she had seen and thought to herself, " _That can't be true; all these women can't be here for just pleasure can they?"_. Tyler saw Ruby looking around in confusion, and went over to her. He put his rather large hand on her shoulder.

"It's true, Ruby. You may not know this, but I was once a member of the Atlysian council." Tyler said.

Ruby looked up at him an incredulous look on her face.

"Women, are not allowed to be a part of the council, but for one thing; and you know what that is for. In fact I guarantee that all these women have had more men in there bed than days of schooling." Tyler said; taking another drink.

Ruby looked at all the women she had just been fawning over. They were all from Atlas and on closer inspection they never smiled.

"That is disgusting." Ruby said; crossing her arms.

"Very, however many in Atlas to share the same thoughts as you so keep your voice down; and stay close to Saffeara she wasn't joking about the corporate stuff. So she can keep these guys off of you if you know what I mean." Tyler said, his voice significantly lower.

Ruby nodded; and Tyler walked away to start conversing with some more people. Ruby made her way back over to Saffeara and Yang who were in the middle of their own conversation. Not wanting to interrupt them Ruby actually got to look at Saffeara's dress. She was wearing a navy blue, strapless, cocktail dress that made her pale skin radiate. On her feet she wore a pair of pink heels that matched her eyes. She even took the time to put on her purple lipstick that she had been missing lately. All in all Ruby thought that Saffeara looked cute in her a break in their conversation Ruby jumped in. That's where they waited for Jozy and Liz who would begin the mission.

In the west wing of the building Weiss, and Blake were conversing with the prominent businessmen of Mistal. Weiss had her hair let down; kept the calm and collected aura at all times. Her dress was a long black dress that went up to her neck; and the skirt went down and covered her feet. She had chosen this dress for a reason. It was the only one that could conceal Myrtenaster with minimal altering. Her reasoning for this was because Mistral was on the brink of a civil war and it would probably help to have it just incase.

Blake had a white dress that went down to her feet. It looked like it was made out of satin and gleamed in the light of the large chandeliers. Her bow was also white to throw off any suspicion as to what lay beneath it.

The air was stale in this area of the building and Blake couldn't discern as to why. All around her were men at least three times the age of Weiss and she; and all of them gave off an uneasy vibe. When she would look at Weiss she noticed that the heiress was clutching the section of her skirt where Myrtenaster was located for dear life. Blake let this go on for a few minutes longer; but decided to intervene soon after.

She walked up behind Weiss who was speaking to an older gentleman and his son. His son seemed to be half focused on the conversation and more focused one the heiresses chest and butt. As Blake got closer she noticed that he would sneak glances at the heiress every once in awhile. Blake lightly grabbed Weiss's arm and made up a lie about a message from her father. They excused themselves from the two "gentlemen" and found a secluded corner to talk.

"What did my father want?" Weiss asked; her voice quiet.

"Nothing, I lied." Blake said.

Weiss deadpanned, "What! I was trying to set up a meeting between my father and a very wealthy businessman."

Blake placed three fingers over Weiss's mouth, "I saved you from a terrible situation. His son was practically doing you with his eyes. Also if he looked at your butt one more time I was going to chop his penis off." Blake finished with a smirk on her face.

Weiss let out a sigh, "Yeah, you're right. Thanks for that."

Blake nodded and looked at her watch.

"It's almost time for the speaker to go on stage. We better go." she said.

Weiss nodded and followed Blake to the main auditorium, which was where Ruby and the rest of the Sequoia Tree were located.

Ruby, Yang, Saffeara, Kale, and Tyler were all sitting at a table they had was almost time for their mission to begin and Jozy and Liz were nowhere to be found.

"So professional making us wait here." Tyler said; angrily.

Saffeara snickered; and then pointed at the stairs leading into the auditorium. Jozy and Liz were making there way down the stairs; and waved to the rest of the Sequoia Tree.

Liz looked absolutely stunning. Her red and black hair was pulled back into and tied near the end. It was then left to drape over her right shoulder. Her dress was black and had an extremely low cut that showed off her very developed body. The skirt of the dress went down to her ankles and had a long cut that ended about halfway up her thigh. She was also wearing a pair was topaz earrings that matched her eyes and practically glowed in the chandelier light. Over all Liz was probably one of the most beautiful women at the fundraiser.

She wore a humble smile as she sat down at the table. She could feel all eyes looking at her as she set down. This earned her teammates the sight of a slight blush dusting her cheeks.

"You look so pretty, Liz." Ruby said; grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah, I think every woman in this place is looking at you with envy." Yang added.

"Heh, thanks guys." Liz responded; not sure as to how to thank them enough.

Jozy watched the exchange with an amused expression on his face as everyone was smitten with his wife. However, he knew that they still had a job to do here.

"Okay, people let's get down to business." he said.

The table immediately calmed.

"So the vault is on the top floor and of course it's heavily guarded." Jozy stated.

"Seems reasonable enough." Tyler said.

"Yeah, but there's one small problem. The guards are no normal guards they're all SF." Liz

said.

Tyler slammed his head down on the table, while Saffeara covered her face with her hands. Kale started massaging his temple trying to stave off a head ache; and Ruby started biting her fingers. The only one who barely had any reaction to this was Yang who was confused as to why everybody was groaning.

"So who are the SF?" she asked.

"Atlysian special forces, who have a 90% success rate in all of their missions." Jozy clarified to her.

"We've all fought them in one way or another before; and needless to say we all despise the SF." Liz added.

"The only one who has not fought them is you and Ruby; so Yang stick close to your sister since her training is more up to date than yours is, and Ruby these won't be your normal guards so don't get cocky." Jozy said.

Ruby and Yang looked at each other, and then nodded.

"Okay people let's go get dressed." Jozy said standing up.

They stood up and sneaked away from the party. They went into a locker room located on the top floor of the building. As they went in Ruby noticed that Liz's dress did not have a back to it and revealed a tribal tattoo that went all the way down her back. She could not tell what it was, but Ruby could sense that it was not made from typical ink.

She did not dwell on this for too long, as a duffle bag was thrown to her and Yang. Ruby immediately stripped off her dress and changed into her provisional combat dress. It consisted of a pair of black combat boots that had red soles, a pair of black cargo pants, a red T-shirt, and some black gloves. On top of all that she wore a vest that would be used to hold the magazines for her assault rifle, and finally finished it off with her mask.

All the others were dressed like her except for Liz and Yang. Yang was wearing a black tank top and a pair of purple short shorts. She wore Ember Celica on her wrists and had a vest that was covered in shotgun shells. She also removed her eye patch and allowed her red eye to be scene. She also wore a bag that held the explosives necessary for their mission. Liz was still wearing her dress and stated that she was not going to change since she could move and fight better with her dress. No one protested this so Ruby just went along with it. Jozy started throwing everyone their guns. They were assault rifles that had been stolen from the Atlysian military; and were specially modified with sound suppressors.

"The fuck are these, cocktail guns?" Tyler asked; feeling the weight of the rifle.

"Their what we could get through security."Jozy said; pulling out a pump action shotgun and throwing it to Yang.

She caught the shotgun and placed it on her back. Each of their tactical vests had a magnetic plate on the back allowing them to sling their weapons.

Finally he pulled out Reflection Breaker, which was covered in wires and camera lenses.

"Are you kidding me?" Tyler asked.

"Nope we told the guards it was camera equipment which is half true since the scope is a camera." Liz replied.

Yang noticed something didn't add up, "Um can I ask why a sniper rifle is useful in close quarters?"

"Good question, Yang, and it's not useful at all. However, the chainsword is." Jozy replied as Kale changed the weapon to its chainsword mode and placed it on his back.

Yang nodded in approval. They all exited the room cautiously and made their way towards the the vault. They dispatched the guards with relative ease as they went. Thankfully most of the guards did not appear to be all trained SF; and were only wearing the patch as a deterrent. Others were actually SF and struggled a lot more when they were taken down. THey made it to the door wear the vault was and Saffeara started to work her magic. She quickly unlocked the door and disabled the alarm. All of this took about 2 minutes and amazed Ruby and Yang.

Inside was a large room so tall that its light did not even touch the ceiling leaving it dark. In the very back was large steel vault door. Inside this vault was over 50 billion Lien roughly 4% of Mistral's economy.

"The people of Mistral will hate us for this if they find out." Saffeara said.

"So don't let them find out. Open the vault Saffeara." Jozy commanded.

As Saffeara went to open the vault, Jozy, pulled Kale off to the side.

"Something's not right in here. There are no guards to be found and there was a simple door lock and alarm." Jozy said.

Kale responded with a few gargle and looked up at the ceiling and back down. Jozy took off his mask and sniffed the air and turned back to Kale.

"You're right, best not to alarm anyone." Jozy said, walking over to Ruby.

He whispered something in her ear and her eyes lightly fluttered to the direction of the ceiling. Her head did not move however, and her eyes turned to their yellow orange form. She then whispered in Yang's ear right as Saffeara cracked the lock.

"Here you go Yang ." Tyler said; throwing her a thermite charge.

Yang caught the charge and went to work arming the device. The thing Ruby mentioned to her was weighing heavily on her mind, but she needed to remain calm or she would mess up somewhere and blow them all sky high.

Out in the main room a shadowy figure was skulking around on the ceiling. Wires were sprawled out all over the ceiling like a demonic spider web. He smiled to himself when he saw that Yang was all alone. In one quick flash he dropped down and landed behind had no time to react as she was slammed up against a large case of Lien. She was thrown so hard that she coughed blood soon after.

The man's wire retracted into five razor sharp claws that were on each of his hands; and was about to bury them deep inside Yang. However, he was interrupted by Ruby who had appeared behind him. Surprised by her speed he let her get more than a little close; before kicking her in the face. The blow knocked her back into the room; with a cut just above her right eye. She wiped the blood off and found that it was fully healed. This did give Yang enough time to get away from the man and back over to her friends.

She was finally able to get a good look at her attacker. He was wearing a long blue cape and red top hat. Underneath the cape he was wearing a blue tuxedo.

"That was no normal kick. If hadn't had been as strong as I am it would have cracked my skull." Ruby said; standing back up.

"I saw; that means that this person is not a soldier but a huntsmen." Jozy said.

The man who had been standing there suddenly vanished.

"What the fuck." Liz muttered; as she got closer to Ruby.

Suddenly she heard Ruby scream as a wire lance pierced through her chest. Her blood covered Liz's dress. She caught Ruby as she fell to the ground and looked at her. She was unconscious, but her wounds were healing which was a good sign.

Liz was in a daze. She had just one of her most beloved people get mutilated. As her teammates started firing in all directions she looked at her hands that were covered in Ruby's blood. She started laughing and crying at the same time as her remembered why she was a black rated huntress.

"Hahahahahah, I'm a black rated because I hunt other Huntsman." She said.

Her hand started to glow gold and when she touched Ruby her wound immediately healed itself. Yang saw this and ran over to Ruby. She held Ruby's head in her hands and looked at Liz.

"What do I need to do?" she asked; a calm demeanor about her.

"Stay with her Yang. She'll need help when she wakes up." Liz said, standing up.

Her hair was shrouding her eyes in darkness as she walked. Her eyes started glowing only then could she see the Invisible Man.

She pulled out a red revolver and took aim. She fired and hit the man in the shoulder. He fell from his place on an adjacent wall with a great thud. He got up as fast as her could and turned his wires into a lance again and took aim at Liz. He stopped halfway through though when he saw her face. She was smiling with a sense of pure sadistic bliss. His expression turned to a terrified one as her realized who was standing in front of him.

Liz said three words, "I found you."


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: We are back with another chapter of RWBY:Darkfall. So Rooster Teeth posted the opening title animation on their Youtube channel and oh my God that animation though. I was like a kid in a candy store watching the opening rose petal fluttering down to the rose flower. Needless to say I was hard in the pants as most of you probably were. So I wanted to talk about something that has been on my mind lately, and that is the fact that even though RWBY:Darkfall has over 50,000 words in it, there is no cover image for the story. I did not do this by design obviously; but the truth is I have no way of doing digital art on my laptop. I'm also not going to just draw a picture and snap a picture of it with my phone because I feel that this story deserves better than that. This is why I'm turning to you guys, the amazing RWBY fandom. If you know anybody who can do digital art please let me know in a review or some other way. Sorry this is so long guys but it must be addressed. So I love you guys stay classy:)**

 **SHDW Fact,**

 _ **Fact: Saffeara is based off of Eto from the Tokyo Ghoul series, and Kale is based off of Uchiha Obito from the Naruto series.**_

"The Fundraiser Part 2"

The unknown Huntsman backed away from Liz and refashioned his wire to curl around his body in a mundane form of armor.

"So you aren't dead after all, Archangel. I find that surprising since you're wanted in everyone of the four kingdoms." he said; pointing at Liz.

Liz's hair had come undone and had become matted and messy. Her bangs were casting a black shadow down the length of her face. Her normally sweet and seductive eyes were now filled with hate and anger. Tyler moved closer to the Huntsman, but Liz's arm went up stopping him.

"Leave him be, he's mine" Liz said, her voice hollow.

Tyler looked at Jozy, who nodded towards him.

Tyler put his rifle on his back and walked away from the man.

"Saffeara detonate the bomb; and Yang get Ruby out of here as fast as you can." Jozy commanded,

Yang nodded handing Saffeara the detonator and running out of the room, carrying Ruby bridal style. Saffeara squeezed the detonator and a loud explosion tore through the vault. Screams echoed throughout the nearby auditorium. The Unknown Huntsman tried to run past Liz, but was stopped by a gunshot next to his head.

He looked and saw that Liz had pulled out another revolver. It was a deep red that contrast greatly with the other black one.

Liz wore a playful smirk on her face, "Did I give you permission to leave?"

He turned and looked at her with frustration evident in his eyes. Liz found this hilarious, and started snickering about it.

"Come on, guys let's go." Jozy said, running towards the door.

Saffeara, Tyler, and Kale all ran after him whilst putting their masks on.

"What about Liz?" Saffeara asked.

"She'll be fine, what matters most right now is buying enough time for us all to get out." Jozy replied.

The Huntsman was walking circles around Liz, sizing her up. This frustrated her because she felt he was just stalling for time. However, when he suddenly vanished she knew it was on.

"It's kind of funny that you have to hide yourself from the one person who can't be hid from." Liz said, looking right at him.

"What makes you think I'm hiding? Maybe I want you to look at me."

Liz suddenly felt herself being lifted up into the air by his wires. She was then thrown into one of the large stone walls. Dust filled the room from the force of her impact. The Huntsman dropped down from the ceiling and looked at the dust cloud.

"And they said you were supposed to be tough." He said.

However, just as he said that he felt the air shift. His eyes went wide as he backflipped away from the volley of bullets that were shot at him. He looked up to see Liz walking towards him.

She had both revolvers at her sides with their barrels smoking. She was walking with a limp since the impact had broken her foot. Both of them heard the bone snap back together and completely heal herself.

"All better." Liz said, with a sickening smile.

He grit his teeth and mounted the next attack. Both of their weapons clashed in a flurry of sparks.

Meanwhile Weiss and Blake heard the explosion and hid themselves in one of the adjacent halls right next to the auditorium. The hallway was dark since it was not supposed to be used that evening. This made it incredibly hard for the two huntresses to see in front of them, much less each held each other's hands while they held their weapons in their free hands.

"So what do you think that noise was?" Weiss asked somewhat shakily.

Blake had a calm demeanor about her, "It was probably somebody dropping something. This building is huge so it probably echoed." Blake said, trying to calm the girl.

They continued to walk down the hallway until they heard a loud boom from outside. It was followed by a large flash of light that illuminated the room via the windows. They both moved over to the window and saw that it was snowing heavily outside.

"Hmm, Thundersnow. I guess we know that everything is okay now." Weiss said, letting go of Blake's and sitting down on the window seal.

Blake looked at the heiress who took on a look of melancholie.

"When I was a girl back in Atlas, I would sit in my room and watch the snow just like this. I found it calming for some reason in my life of hectic hell. When I came to Beacon I stopped doing this and didn't start again or a very long time. It was last year when Ruby dragged me outside to watch it snow. I of course protested this, but Ruby dragged me to large room with large windows. I had never seen this room before, but apparently Ruby had. She had moved a couch to get a good view of the windows and had thrown a large fur blanket on it to keep us warm. She apparently 'found' it somewhere, but she never told me where she found it." Weiss said with a chuckle.

Blake smiled at the thought and allowed Weiss to continue.

"So we sat there and watched the snow and eventually fell asleep. I awoke an hour later and found that we had been leaning up against each other the whole time. I was freaked out at first, but I calmed down and slowly moved away from her. She apparently didn't like it and started fidgeting in her I placed my hand on hers and looked around the room. I finally found the clock in the room and saw how late it was. I kind of freaked out and started trying to nudge Ruby awake, but I couldn't do it. I finally gave up and thought about just leaving her there and going back to the dorm, but I took another look at her and got lost in a trance. She was so beautiful and peaceful looking in the moonlight that I just tucked my legs in and watched her. I think that's when I really started to fall for her." Weiss finished.

Blake joined her on the window seal, and put her hand on Weiss's shoulder.

"I've never heard that story before, even from Ruby." She said.

"Heh, it was supposed to be a secret; but now I guess it doesn't really matter. Do you think I'll see her again?" Weiss asked.

Blake was not prepared for this question, and was struggling to find the right words. Fortunately she wouldn't have to answer.

"Maybe, if you play your cards right." a strange but familiar voice said.

Both of the girls looked up and immediately grabbed their weapons and took a defensive stance. Jozy had entered the hallway and was looking at the two girls. He had his mask on and is black duffle coat was toggled snuggly around him. In his right hand was Dragon Razor calmly pointed toward the ground.

"What are you doing here, Mannequin?" Blake asked.

"Come on Blake you're smarter than that. You know why I'm here." he said.

Blake grit her teeth at his answer.

He started moving over to the girls, "Mistral will break away from the four kingdoms, and you know that there is nothing that you or Weiss can do to stop that."

He jabbed Dragon Razor into the ground in front of him and turned to Weiss.

"Do they still hurt, Weiss? The scars?" he asked.

"I have no idea what you mean." Weiss said, increasing her grip on Myrtenaster.

"I think you do Weiss. In fact I reckon you've been sold out to more than a few businessmen in order to seal deals with them." Jozy said, staring into her eyes.

He had called it. Weiss's biggest secret that she kept from everyone had been found out by someone who couldn't even see her scars. She dropped Myrtenaster to the ground, and lowered her head. She rubbed her eyes trying to stave off tears. Jozy's eyes gave off a solemn expression as he looked at the mess that Weiss was.

"Weiss don't listen to him he's just trying to get inside of her head." Blake ordered.

"But he's right."

Blake looked at Weiss with a shocked expression on her face, "You can't be serious."

"I am. I was nine when I lost my virginity to an old businessman who had a thing for little girls. It didn't stop there, months later I was in the same situation. I had just turned ten. When I was fourteen they started to get violent with me; and it was only a matter of time before I was raped by one of them, and my father didn't even care 'It's apart of the business.' he would say. Funny thing was I was sure he would never do that me; and then he did but he beat me harder than any of the other men…

Weiss paused for a moment to wipe her eyes.

"You know the worst thing was the fact that Winter helped him. Yeah, she kept saying 'This is for not being a good sister.' as she held me down. After they were done they left me there crying on the ground; and shut the door behind them. Luckily I didn't get pregnant; and ever since then I swore I would get her back for that. Not kill her get her back; make her feel the pain I felt only TEN TIMES MORE!" Weiss yelled, giving into her anger.

Blake was shocked beyond words. She could have never imagined such terrible things happened to Weiss.

Jozy walked closer to the two girls, "I have a proposal for you Miss Schnee. One that doesn't involve sex."

Weiss looked at Jozy with a sly expression, "What did you have in mind?"

"You want Winter to suffer, and I also want something from her." he said.

Weiss cocked an eyebrow, "And what would that be?"

He started laughing a little bit, "I want her semblance."

A deathly silence fell on the room.

"I have two conditions. The first one is that I have to be present during whatever you do; and I would like to see Ruby." Weiss said, the last request causing her to blush a little.

"That will be fine, although you might have to wait awhile to see her as of tonight."

Weiss got a panicked look on her face, "Why what happened?"

As she said that Kale and Tyler entered the hallway.

"Tourniquet and Phantom will bring you back to base and explain to you the situation there." Jozy said.

Kale and Tyler went over to the girls and started ushering them out of the hallway.

"Did you make the right choice Weiss?" Blake whispered.

"I don't think it was the right one but I think it was the best one. The Sequoia Tree are the only ones who can challenge Atlas." Weiss replied.

"Hey do you guys know Ruby's sister Yang?" Tyler asked.

"Yes! Is she with you? Did she make it?" Blake asked almost jumping out of her skin.

"Ha yes she did. You must be the girlfriend. Blake was it?" Tyler asked.

Blake nodded furiously until she felt Weiss's glare burning into the back of her head.

"I didn't know you two were a thing, Miss Belladonna." Weiss said.

Blake started apologizing to Weiss about how she was going to tell her but never got around to it.

Tyler and Kale shook their heads almost in unison at the girls.

Meanwhile Liz and the unknown huntsman were still fighting in the vault room. The magnificent room was now covered in rubble and filled with smoke. The thermite that the thermite charge was named after had caught a majority of the lien inside the vault on fire. It filled the room with a that lowered the already poor visibility.

Of the two opponents ,the huntsman, was worst for wear. His clothes were torn in various places and was bleeding from his head. He was also sweating profusely and was breathing heavily. Liz on the other hand was completely calm; and barely flinched at some of the pain she was experiencing.

With a great scream the Huntsman mounted another attack. He called his wires out and shot them towards Liz, who jumped into the air. The wires followed her into the air and were about to grab her. She transformed her revolvers into their second Ion Blade forms. They were made out of orange laser pointers that Liz had fused with Dust to amplify their strength.

Liz spun in the air and cut everyone of the wires around her; reducing them to molten metal. She landed in front of the Huntsman who made two swords out of his remaining wire. Both sword clashed with Liz's who found that when they weren't individual wires they weren't so easy to cut. Both were doused with sparks as the metal hit the super-heated plasma. This went on for about a good five minutes before Liz realized that she would have to do something drastic in order to win this fight.

The opening she needed finally came when she locked her right sword with his left and her left with his right. She then kicked him in the groin knocking him to his knees. Running up to his winded form she transformed her swords back to their pistol forms and holstered them. She launched several strikes at his face which broke his jaw and left him face down. Liz then picked him up by the nap of his neck and threw him threw one of the large windows in the room.

Liz quickly left the room to see if her was dead or not. Outside the Huntsman was beaten bloody and found that his right leg was broken. " _She won't just leave me to die. She'll be back, but that means I have sometime."_ he thought, engaging his wire. He made a trap that spanned the length of the alleyway he had landed in. " _Now come and get me you bitch."_

It took Liz a few minutes to traverse the vast building and get outside. The snow was coming down hard and had already dumped at least two inches of snow on the ground. Wind chilled Liz to the core, but her adrenalin kept her warm for the time being. Her heels crunched in the snow as she walked down the alley until she finally found her prey. He was braced up on a wall, sitting in the snow. Liz smiled to herself as she saw him and quickened her pace. Unfortunately, she did not see the wire trap on the ground and stepped on it. the wire wrapped around her leg and lifted her into the air. A multitude of other wires bound her other limbs and her head. In one motion they broke her body with such a force that it turned her head a full 180 degrees.

On the ground the Huntsman looked at the lifeless form of Liz. He took a cigar out of his suit and lit it.

He took a few puffs before speaking, "You were a remarkable Huntress when you were in school, Liz. It's a shame it had to end this way."

He closed his eyes and wondered how long it would take the Atlysian SF to find him.

"Why do you talk as if you've won?"

He opened his eyes and what he saw caused him to drop his cigar out of his mouth.

Liz was still alive and her bones were snapping back into place whilst still being tied up in the wire. Her head twisted back around to its normal place. The wires lost their tension and dropped Liz to the ground with great thud. She was now on her hands and knees and looked at the Huntsman with an open mouth grin.

The Huntsman was terrified, the person he had just killed had come back to life. He reached into his back pocket and withdrew a small throwing knife. Liz stood up and started walking towards him.

"Stay away from me! You're DEAD!" he yelled whilst throwing the knife.

The knife traveled towards Liz and stabbed her in the palm of her right hand. She looked at the wound and then back at the Huntsman who was trying in vain to crawl away. She pulled the knife out of her hand and bent it with her left hand. She then went over to the Huntsman and picked him up by his collar.

"You know I really did like this dress." She said, before throwing him towards where the wire drape was.

Liz ripped the bottom of her dresses skirt off and wrapped it around the wound on her hand. She then returned to the Huntsman and withdrew one of her revolvers and switched it over to an Ion Sword.

"You wanna know what I'm going to do to you? I'm going to clip your wings." Liz said, moving over to his right side.

"Which means I'm going to sever all of your limbs."

With that Liz cut off his right arm. He let out a loud scream when he felt the sword burn through him. It was much the same for when Liz cut off his other arm and his legs.

He lay there breathing heavily, his life reduced to a mear torso.

Liz knelt down next to him and observed her handing work, "Now I'm going to cannibalize your semblance."

His eyes went wide as he looked into Liz's cold, dead ones.

"You will be a husk after I'm done, neither man nor beast, you will feel nothing and will be like a machine."

"Why did you do this to me? Please just kill me." he begged.

Liz put her mouth next to his ear, "I would, but you harmed Ruby Rose."

With that Liz's hand was covered in a gold aura. She plunged her hand into his stomach and withdrew a glowing white orb. The Huntsman was knocked unconscious by the intense pain. The white orb was absorbed into Liz's body and caused another continuation of her tribal tattoo to appear on her right shoulder and bicep; it also healed her wounded hand. Liz stood up fully and and jumped onto a nearby rooftop and left the area.

Elsewhere Yang and Ruby had made it outside and were attempting to get away from a pair of SF units. Ruby was still unconscious, but was alive. Yang was bleeding from cuts that she had received from an SF commander. " _Crazy bitch almost got me. I need to get out of here fast."_ Yang thought as she ran. However, when she turned the next corner she felt a throwing knife hit her in the shoulder blade. Yang skidded to a halt and almost dropped Ruby. She then felt another knife hit her in the area behind her knee, and then her left elbow, and finally her right ankle. Yang set Ruby down on the ground and turned to see the SF commander. His men surrounded her and Ruby.

"That's far enough, missy. You're beat." he said.

Yang started to laugh as she fell to her knees. Her wounds becoming too much to bear. Seeing her defiance the commander grabbed his pistol and shot Yang in the stomach. She started bleeding profusely, yet continued laughing. She found it ironic that she would be killed by her own kind rather than the creatures of Grimm.

However, little did she know that the gunshot would not only bring death but life. On the top of a building about 500 yards from Ruby and Yang; Kale and Tyler were getting Weiss and Blake into a Sequoia Tree Bullhead. Suddenly a shot rang out from the city and Kale turned quickly towards it. He got a feeling deep in his soul and looked at Tyler with an expression filled with defiance and determination.

Tyler knew exactly what Kale knew and gave him one answer, "Go."

Kale nodded and put the hood of his robe up and jumped off the building. He landed with a thud, and started to run with such speed that he made a small shock wave.

"Where's he going?" Blake asked.

"To save the ones you care about the most." Tyler replied, getting into the Bullhead and shutting the door.

Yang was on the verge of losing consciousness. Her version started to blur as the soldiers got closer and started to suffocate her with their presence.

"You lose." The commander said, before putting the gun up to Yang's head.

Yang closed her eyes thinking this would be the last time she would hear anything at all. However, the next sound she heard was not a gunshot but a chainsaw. Blood splattered her body as Kale stabbed Reflection Breaker through the Commander's back. He let out a loud scream as the chainsaw mutilated his Yang registered what had happened a smirk grew across her face. She then passed out from blood loss.

The soldiers looked at their dead commander and started shooting Kale. However, the bullets appeared to go straight through him, and did no damage. Kale ran at them and started slashing away. The blood that coated the ground soaked into the snow and made a disgusting slushy. He took out around 10 soldiers and did not receive a single injury; and there was still one guy left there.

He appeared to be in his early twenties and was crying his eyes out, begging Kale to spare him. He started to back up and stripped and fell, he landed on his butt. Kale pulled out his scroll and typed a message on it. It read only one word, "Innocent". He then went over to Ruby and Yang and picked them up. He jumped to a nearby roof and started running towards where the second Bullhead would land. The soldier he had spared watched as Kale escaped, and walked off into the unknown darkness that was the city of Mistral.

It took Kale five minutes to make it to the Bullhead and load Yang and Ruby who were still unconscious. Luckily Liz had gotten there before them and started taking care of the girls with Saffeara's help. Jozy was standing in the doorway looking out at the city as they took off. He turned to Kale when he entered and nodded to him. Kale stood in the middle of the doorway and nodded back at Jozy. For now they were safe.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Welcome all of you lovely lovely people to RWBY:Darkfall. So here we go almost at the end of this story arc and I just wanted to say how awesome all of you people have been with this story, I just can't express how greatful to all of you I truly am. I wanted to keep this very short so please review, favorite, and follow to help this story grow.**

 _Fact: To this day nobody knows where Jozy keeps Dragon Razor. All they know is that it's always on his person at all times._

"A prelude to the Wolf"

The bullhead where Yang and Ruby resided was cramped. Inside Liz and Saffeara were taking care of the girls, while Jozy and Kale were keeping in contact with the other bullhead and the Hole. They had been flying for about 15 minutes and in that time Yang had woken up and was now talking. Ruby had woken up previously but almost immediately fell asleep, her body too exhausted from healing her to allow her to stay conscious. Liz watched Ruby's chest move up and down as she slept. She looked so peaceful in that state; completely and utterly innocent. A smile grew on Liz's face as she shifted her gaze to Yang who was joking and laughing with Saffeara. An aura of exhaustion and contentment washed over Liz and forced a yawn out of Liz's mouth.

Jozy saw this and took off his coat and went over to Liz. He draped it over Liz's shoulders, who was startled by it at first. She looked up and saw who it actually was that was offering to her, and muttered a simple thank you before kissing him on the cheek.

"Hey, Saffeara if something happens while I'm asleep wake me, okay?" Liz asked; sitting on a seat next to Ruby.

"Yes, ma'am."Saffeara said; turning back to Yang.

Liz looked down at Ruby and brushed a strand of her red-white hair out of her face. She then closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Yang saw this and looked at Saffeara. She looked at Yang with a curious expression when Yang turned to her .

"So what's Liz's story?" Yang asked.

"What do you mean?" Saffeara asked.

"Like how does someone that sweet, get involved in a job like this?" Yang asked.

"Oh, well...um…" Saffeara trailed off and looked at Jozy.

Jozy flicked his eyes over to her and then back to his scroll. While the message was subtle Saffeara understood it.

"Sorry, Yang, it's not my place; but if you get the chance you should ask her yourself." Saffeara said.

Yang did not understand why Saffeara could not tell her, but nodded anyway.

"Fifteen minutes until we reach home base." The pilot said, over the intercom.

This caught Yang's attention, "Well, I better get some rest before we get there." she mumbled to herself.

Yang closed her eyes, and fell asleep not expecting the surprise she would get when she woke up.

Yang awoke to her sister practically talking Liz's leg off. Liz had a soft smile while she answered Ruby's questions, and teased her about getting injured again.

Yang turned on her side and slowly got out of her bed. She tried hard not to make a sound as she neared her sister. Liz noticed Yang and got a bigger smile on her face as she continued talking to Ruby.

Yang got into position and jump-hugged her sister from behind.

"GOOD MORNING RUBY!" Yang yelled, whilst hugging her sister.

Startled by the sudden attack, Ruby, turned and punched Yang in the eye again. Yang fell

backwards onto the ground and clutched her face. Liz broke out in hysterical laughter as

Ruby's brain put together what just happened.

"Oh my god, Yang! I'm so sorry." Ruby exclaimed.

"Of all the places to hit why did you have to hit the same eye? I mean you could have punched me anywhere,boobs, stomach, mouth, or even the other eye." Yang exclaimed still holding her face.

"I said, I was sorry."

"i know, but still this means I'm going to have another black eye for the next week." Yang said, sitting up.

At this point Liz decided it would probably be a good time to intervene. She moved over to where Yang was and knelt down. At this point Yang was still covering her eye with her hand, and looked at Liz with a questioning expression.

"Show me your eye." Liz commanded with a smirk on her face.

Yang complied and moved her hand. Liz replaced Yang's hand with hers and held it there for a moment. Yang found Liz's cold hand on her hot, sore eye very pleasurable and relaxing. However, before she knew it Liz took her hand away.

"There I'm all done." Liz said.

Yang didn't believe her and placed her hand up to her eye again and was shocked to find that it was not swollen anymore. Yang took her hand away from her eye trying to understand what had just happened.

"Wow, Liz, where did learn to do that?" Ruby asked, completely amazed.

Oh, it was just a trick I picked up." Liz said; her memories flashed back to the huntsman from last night.

Yang finally understood what had just taken place and looked over to the clock. Her eyes went wide yet again when she found it was 9:30 a.m. .

"Hey, Liz, how long were we asleep?" Yang asked.

Liz tapped her finger on her chin, " Well, Ruby woke up almost right when we landed, which was around one, and then you woke up five minutes ago so there's your answer. You are a very heavy sleeper I might add."

Yang laughed whilst scratching her head. Liz and Ruby gave her a smile in return, but Liz gave the clock a second look.

"Well, considering the fact that you appear to be fine. I have no choice but to discharge you, Ruby." Liz said.

Ruby jumped out of the bed with a loud "yay." and bolted out the door. Rose petals coated the ground as she went. Liz looked at the petals and then at Yang.

"Remind me to teach, Ruby, some manners later." Liz said.

Yang laughed, "We've tried, but apparently Weiss was the only one who could get anything to stick."

Liz laughed at Yang, and nodded in conformation.

"Speaking of Ms. Schnee, her friend is here and wishes to visit you." Liz said, giving Yang a sly smile. Yang's eyes widened, and broke out into a cold sweat.

"W-what?" Yang asked, fear evident in her voice.

The only answer she received was another playful smile from Liz, who opened the curtain.

When the curtain opened Yang's worst fears were realized. In the dark of the medical tent she could see Blake's eyes. The Faunus stepped past Liz, and entered the curtained-off area.

"Hello, Yang." Blake said.

Yang jumped out of her bed and guarded herself from whatever Blake was about to do.

"Look Blake, I know that I was supposed to stay in touch and everything; but I got side tracked and-" Yang was cut off, by a volley of kisses that Blake planted all over Yang's face.

Yang was disoriented at first, but quickly recovered and kissed her back. Eventually, they stopped kissing and hugged each other.

" So I guess you're not mad at me." Yang whispered into Blake's ear.

"Well I wouldn't say that." Blake said.

Before Yang could make a move Blake slapped her. The force of the strike left a red handprint on Yang's left cheek. Blake saw the mark and got a satisfied expression on her face.

"I feel better now." Blake said.

Yang's only reply was a small sniffle, and her wiping her eyes.

Blake stepped over to her and kissed where her hand had previously hit Yang.

"Better now?" Blake asked stroking Yang's cheek.

"A little." Yang mumbled.

Luckily Liz knew the remedy to this situation. She strode over to her desk and pulled out a purple lollipop. She went over to Yang and Blake again.

"Yang, hold out your hand." Liz commanded.

Yang cocked her eyebrow, and held out both her hands. Liz dropped the sucker into Yang's hand. She looked at the hard candy treat in her hand; and immediately tore the wrapper off and plopped it into her mouth. Liz looked at Blake and motioned towards the roof of her Yang with her eyes.

"You okay now?" Blake asked.

Yang nodded and started walking towards the door with Blake.

After they left Liz went and sat on her stool and poured herself a cup of coffee. She looked up at the roof of her medical tent, and let out a sigh.

"Elizabeth, you are a hopeless romantic." she said to herself.

"Well you maybe a romantic, but you're not hopeless." a female voice said.

Startled Liz looked down to see Saffeara standing in the doorway.

"Heh, my mother would disagree." Liz said, standing up.

She poured Saffeara a cup of coffee and hand it to her. She graciously accepted it, and took a sip from it.

"So what are you here for?" Liz asked.

"You said, you had a solution for my semblance so I came to hear exactly what it was you had in mind." Saffeara said.

It took everything Liz had not to visibly flinch at her words. She had the plan worked out in her head sure, but to what cost, what would this potentially sacrifice? Liz started writing on a piece of paper, and then passed across the desk once she was finished. However, when Saffeara went to grab it Liz covered it with her hand.

"Listen, Saffeara, I want you to know that you don't have to do what is written on this piece of paper."

Saffeara looked at her with a confused expression, "But if I don't I'll never be able to control my primal semblance."

"I know, but even after you do this you still won't be able to."

"What do you mean? I thought you could fix this." Saffeara said, more visibly distraught.

"We can, but I can't on my own. This is just the first step in controlling it, so please think before you make your decision." Liz replied.

With that she unveiled the note and again. Saffeara slowly took the note and left. After she left Liz sat down, and laid her head on the desk.

"You know if this goes wrong, we'll be murders, Jozy." she mumbled to herself.

Outside Saffeara opened the note and read what Liz had written down. Her eyes went wide in horror and she threw the note down immediately. Her distraught look returned as she started to run. To where she had no idea, just to somewhere that wasn't there. Little did she know, that another person had seen what had just transpired. Magnolia, stepped out from behind a nearby tent.

"Saffeara?" she questioned, before running after her.

Meanwhile, Ruby had just made it back to her tent after running some quick errands. She was in a fantastic mood, and was overflowing with energy. She went to her tent's flap and opened it. Her eyes were closed when she went in; since she was smiling so brightly. However, when she opened her eyes she got the surprise of her life.

Sitting on her bed was a person with ivory hair, and icy blue eyes. She was wearing a white shirt, and a sky blue miniskirt with white trim on the bottom of it. On her feet she wore a pair of white heeled boots. She was currently looking at the photograph of Ruby and Liz. She appeared to be in such deep thought that she did even hear Ruby enter.

Ruby swallowed hard, and dropped the bag she had been carrying to the ground. This got the girl in white's attention, and she looked right at Ruby. Ruby's eyes went wide as her pulse started to quicken.

She uttered one simple name in a hushed whisper, "Weiss…"

"Ruby…" Weiss said, getting up off the bed.

Weiss walked over and was surprised when she had to look up at Ruby. " _Someone got taller."_ Weiss thought with an amused expression on her face. She wrapped Ruby into a tight hug, and just held her there for a few seconds. She had to let go when she heard Ruby sobbing lightly into her shoulder.

Weiss pulled away, and saw tears running down Ruby's face and down her chin. Her hair blocked out the image of her eyes as she cried.

"Ruby, what's wrong?" Weiss asked.

She was surprised when Ruby grabbed Weiss's wrists(which were still on her shoulders) and hung her head in between her arms.

"Are you real? I can't take it anymore if you're not. Please give me sign that your real, because if you're not you might as well leave." Ruby said, tears falling down to the dirt floor.

Weiss was shocked by this, but didn't falter in remedying the situation. She gingerly lifted the younger girl's chin till she saw her eyes. She then very gently kissed Ruby on the lips. She pulled away to ask Ruby a question.

"Do you think I'm real now?"

Ruby didn't need any further proof, she lunged at Weiss and hugged her. Tears were still streaming from her cheeks while she did this. Weiss laughed at how eagerly Ruby grabbed.

"I don't know how you got here, but I'm not going to complain. You're here and now you're the most important thing to me." Ruby said, pulling away a little bit.

Weiss smiled at Ruby, before wiping her eyes, "You dunce, you're going to make me start to cry."

Ruby laughed at the heiress, before bringing her back into another kiss; much deeper than the last one.

Commander Magnolia continued her search for Saffeara along the outer edges of the Sequoia Tree's base. The sun had started to set, which bathed the outer rim of the Hole in a deep orange hue. Magnolia had stopped running shortly after seeing Saffeara disappear.

As she walked a memory suddenly pushed its way back into her mind. She turned tail immediately and headed towards the place the memory had showed. She worked up a sweat climbing the stairs to the surface where the sun reflected off the sand in much greater intensity. When she reached the top she saw Saffeara sitting in the sand looking at the disappearing sun.

She had brought her knees to her chest, and her blue-purple hair was blowing in the wind. Magnolia took a breath, before coming up behind Saffeara.

She placed her hands on either side of Saffeara's head, "Hey, there special girl what's wrong?"

Saffeara gave no response to her question, but spoke none the less.

"You know I can't feel them anymore, Maggy."

Magnolia face took on a look of depression as she looked at Saffeara's head. Beneath her hands she could feel where Saffeara's wolf ears used to be, before they removed. She quickly recovered however.

"I know, but old habits die hard right?" she said, moving to Saffeara's left side.

Saffeara looked at her and gave her a weak smile. Everytime Magnolia had snuck up on Saffeara in the past she would always cup her Faunus ears, because she thought they were cute. This in turn lead them to becoming best friends.

"So do you wanna talk about it?"she asked.

Saffeara shook her head.

"Okay whenever you feel like say it, go right ahead." Magnolia said, turning her head towards the sunset.

Both of them were watching the sun set for quite sometime. In that time Saffeara secretly observed her friend. She was a little bit older than Saffeara at 31 years of age, but still looked very young. At one time Saffeara mistook her for a college student, and more or less has never stopped hearing about her mistake. Magnolia's purple hair was let down which was a rarity that Saffeara secretly enjoyed. Above all the thing that impressed Saffeara the most though, was how Magnolia cold go from this rough and rugged military commander to the sweet and caring person that she was when she was around her.

"Why are you staring at me, Saffeara?" Magnolia asked.

Saffeara's eyes went wide as she quickly realized she had been caught. She turned her head away quickly.

"No reason." Saffeara said, blushing brightly.

Magnolia laughed at her and turned back to the sunset.

It was about this time that Saffeara knew that she wanted to ask Magnolia something.

"Hey Maggy, if you had to do something wrong to make sure the people you love were safe, would you do it?" she asked.

Magnolia looked at her with a confused expression, "Isn't that what we're doing? Everyone in the Sequoia Tree is here for that reason, Saffeara."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, but what if you too scared to do it?"

Magnolia sighed, before wrapping Saffeara's head in a hug. Saffeara was surprised by the action, but accepted it none the less.

"When I first met you Saffeara I was scared of you." Magnolia said.

Saffeara looked up at her stunned, because this was the first time she had heard of this.

"I was scared, because I had been raised to fear the Faunus. However, you showed me that not all the Faunus were bad, and eventually I didn't find you scary. So if you're about doing for other people then do it for me, because I'll never leave you." Magnolia said, giving Saffeara a reassuring smile.

Saffeara smiled in return; and hugged Magnolia fully, "Thanks Maggy."

Saffeara held her there for a few more minutes. " _I'll do it so that one day I can dance with you; and if I'm lucky spend the rest of my life with you."_ Saffeara teared up a bit at the thought. She let go of Magnolia and excused herself in order to get ready for what she would have to do tonight. Magnolia watched Saffeara walk off with a smirk on her face. After she was out of sight, Magnolia, felt inside of her jacket pocket and made sure that her letter to Saffeara was still there. She wasn't going to give it to her, but just in case something happened to her she could at least tell Saffeara what she wanted to tell her this way.

Back in her tent, Ruby, was sitting on her bed with her sheets covering her lower half. Weiss had her arms wrapped around the younger girl from behind, and was planting kisses on the back of her neck. Ruby felt Weiss's bare body touch hers. This action sent shockwaves throughout Ruby's body, and made her close her eyes.

Weiss continued for about a few more minutes before noticing the newest scar on Ruby's back.

"Hey, does it still hurt?" Weiss asked, not wanting to injure her lover.

Ruby knew exactly what she was talking about, "No, not really; but it's kind of sensitive so please be gentle."

"Don't worry, I will be." Weiss said; lightly brushing her lips over the new scar.

Had it been three years ago, Ruby, might not have trusted Weiss to do this. Now, however, she had full faith in her.

"Hey, Weiss?"

"Hmm?"

"How did you find me, or rather how did you get here?" Ruby asked.

Weiss stopped kissing her, and rested her head on Ruby's shoulder,"Well I just so happened to attending the same party that you guys decided to crash."

Ruby let out an awkward laugh, "Yeah, sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. It wasn't that good anyway." She said.

Ruby laughed at her, and stayed quiet for a little bit. A strand of Ruby's white hair fell on Weiss's nose. Weiss stared at the strand of hair before lightly brushing it off.

"I love the new hair by the way." she said, laughing a bit.

Ruby laughed, "Thanks, I ,uh, did it for you."

Ruby turned around in order to see Weiss's reaction. She got a full view of Weiss when she turned around which was not something Ruby was complaining about. Weiss reached up and grabbed a strand of hair, and looked at it.

"Well, you're one shade off, but pretty good overall." Weiss said, purposefully teasing the younger girl.

Ruby's face deadpanned, "You're so picky."

Weiss was going to explain that she was teasing her, but never got to that point because Ruby lunged at her. She pinned Weiss to the bed and looked at her her with a mischievous grin. Weiss tried to struggle in her grip, but found that Ruby had become stronger. _A lot_ stronger. She finally gave up struggling and looked back at Ruby.

"So what now, Miss Rose?" Weiss asked, a smile growing on her face.

Ruby gradually started to descend down towards Weiss's face, "I think you know."

Weiss smiled before accepting Ruby's lips with her own, and wrapping her arms around her lover's body.

Later that night Saffeara was observing a pack of Beowolves moving to the southwest of the Hole. The day's events streamed through her mind as she stalked her prey. She followed them for quite some time before they finally caught her scent. Five of the twelve Beowolves broke away from the pack and ran at Saffeara. She quickly reacted to her foes and started spinning Shadowmancer around her body. The Beowolves were not prepared for this maneuver and ran into a tornado of spinning blades. They were chopped up into small pieces and were strung about the ground.

Saffeara put Shadowmancer away, and quickly ran over to a rapidly disintegrating corpse. " _Okay, chew before you swallow."_ she thought. She ripped a piece of flesh from the Grimm, and ate it. It had the texture of a couch cushion and the taste of horse shit. " _I gotta keep going, otherwise I can't get better."_ Saffeara reminded herself. So she kept going. That night she gorged herself with Grimm meat. So much in fact that her hands were stained from the Grimm's black blood.

When she was done she made her way back to the Hole and was stumbling through the empty pathways. She felt insanely dizzy, and could barely stand. She took a few more steps before collapsing on the ground. Her stomach felt like a rock, and hurt so bad that she was beginning to lose consciousness. In her ears she could hear her pulse elevating, and her thoughts were black as the night. She felt lost, and wanted so badly for someone to help her. Luckily Liz, had been up late that night and had seen Saffeara collapse. Saffeara suddenly felt herself being picked up, before losing consciousness.

The next day, Weiss, awoke to faint sunlight coming through the thick fabric of Ruby's tent. She rubbed her eyes before sitting up. She took extra care in covering her naked body with the sheet just in case. She turned to where Ruby had been sleeping, and found that it was empty. Confused Weiss got out of bed, taking the sheet with her.

"Surely, she wouldn't just leave me here." Weiss mumbled to herself.

Weiss scanned the room for anything Ruby may have left for her. Sure enough she spotted a note on Ruby's desk that had been folded. Weiss walked over and picked up the note and read its contents.

" _Hey Weiss, sorry for not being here when you woke up(I know I'm a terrible girlfriend), but something really important came up that I had to be apart of. Anyway, I left you some clean clothes on the dresser and their should be a guard outside waiting for you. Kisses, Ruby."_ The note read.

Weiss looked over to the dresser and found that the clothes Ruby had mentioned her in fact there. She dropped the sheet and quickly changed into them. She took some time to admire what Ruby had picked out for her.

The top was a very simple light blue, button up shirt that had its sleeves rolled up to the length of a standard T-shirt. Her pants were a pair of black skinny jeans that, in Weiss's opinion, showed off her backside a little too much; but she wore them nonetheless. Finally she put on a pair of heeled boots that went up to her knees.

After that she tied her hair back into a ponytail, and grabbed Myrtenaster from under her and Ruby's bed and strapped it to her belt. She grabbed her Dust pouch, and strapped that to her belt as well before heading outside.

She pushed the flap to Ruby's tent open and stopped dead in her tracks. Suspended in the air were three Minstrali airships. A multitude of Bullheads were landing in the barren landscape around the Hole. Weiss looked around and saw that the Minstrali soldiers were intermingling with the Sequoia Tree soldiers, and sharing their equipment.

"Ah, madam, I'm glad to see you are awake." A Sequoia Tree soldier yelled over the vast amount noise.

He ran over to Weiss and saluted her before continuing. "General Rose has instructed me to escort you to the command tent asap."

"O-okay." Weiss stuttered; completely flustered by how fast and how calm this soldier was.

Weiss followed him and couldn't help, but look around at the apparent chaos. She suddenly felt the ground start to vibrate in an awkward rhythm. She looked up into the air ironically, and found its cause. Four spider androids were walking along the outer rim of the Hole, and were causing the massive booms with their large amount of weight.

"What is going on?" Weiss asked.

"Isn't it great? The leadership's mission in Mistral paid off and now the kingdom has allied themselves with us." the soldier replied.

" _So that's what the Sequoia Tree was doing at the party."_ Weiss thought absent mindedly. She was thrown out of these thoughts by the sound of sonic booms in the air. A fighter squadron had arrived from Mistral and were preparing to land in the flatlands to the north. Weiss stared at them for a moment before continuing with the soldier.

When they arrived. Weiss, noticed that several Minstrali honor guards were present in the tent; and were surrounding a man dressed in elaborate clothing. Sitting across from him, Jozy, was having a conversation with what would be described as the man's secretary. Weiss watched as the soldier suddenly snapped to a salute, and moved off to the side. Weiss suddenly noticed who the elaborately dressed was. She quickly curtsied remembering her manners when meeting the high chairman of a Kingdom's council. When she had finally stood up fully and found that the entire Sequoia Tree leadership, excluding Saffeara of course. She looked over at Jozy and found that Ruby was standing behind him along with Liz. Both women were keeping a keen eye on Jozy and the Chairman, just in case. Behind them Blake, Yang, Kale and Tyler were coordinating the ST and Mistrali forces in the area via comms and computers. Weiss looked back over towards Ruby, who met her gaze. She flashed Weiss a smile that sent memories of the previous night running through her head. She blushed heavily and turned away from her girlfriend. Ruby felt the urge to laugh, but stifled it.

"I think that will conclude our talks. Mr. Chairman if you would; I would like to speak with you more privately." Jozy said, standing up from his chair.

In turn the chairman stood up and followed Jozy out of the tent. The people inside the tent started to disperse which allowed Ruby to meet up with Weiss.

"You should have seen your face." Ruby said, laughing a little.

Weiss grit her teeth, "Shut up you dunce."

Ruby laughed at her girlfriend and over how flustered she made Weiss. She grabbed the heiresses hand and pulled her outside and kissed her. This surprised Weiss to the point of her almost being knocked over by the other girl. Luckily, she was able to regain her footing and return the kiss. They stayed like that for only a few seconds before Ruby broke off the kiss. She then put her mouth next to Weiss's ear.

"Hey, I have to go see Liz about something. Can you find your way back to the tent?" Ruby asked.

Weiss let out a fake sigh, and nodded.

"Great, thank you." Ruby said, letting go of Weiss and walking away.

Weiss had a small smile on her face as she started walking back to her and Ruby's tent.

Jozy and the chairman walked along the outer rim of the Hole, observing their two armies.

"I must say mister Glass, in the short amount of time you've been out here, you have built one of the finest armies I've ever scene." The chairman credited.

"Thank you, it's because of these men that Atlas fears us." Jozy replied.

"Yes, speaking of Atlas, they have sent out propaganda detailing the future of their military; and it describes in detail of how they can build androids with artificial auras. I wanted to ask you what is your plan if this is true?" he asked.

Jozy chuckled a bit, "If Atlas wants to come at me with a bunch of fakes, I will come at them with the greatest weapon I posses."

His thoughts shifted over to Saffeara who was still in the medical tent suffering from the Grimm meat.

Jozy turned toward the chairman, "A day from now Atlas will meet the Sequoia Tree's wolf; and none will be spared.

As he said that Saffeara's eyes jerked open. However, one feature of hers changed. Her left eye was its normal color of pink, but the other one was deep blood red and inside of it one could see an oil-black substance swirling around her pupil. The blood of the Grimm she had ingested was flowing throughout her body, and burned her insides like gasoline that had been set ablaze. A wide grin slowly appeared on her face. She was the Wolf and this time she was in full control.


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Happy Halloween! Or at least it was Halloween when I wrote this. So I wanted to keep this short and tell you guys that you are awesome and deserve all the awards. Not just one, but all of them. So please review, follow, and favorite to show your support for this story; it's also the easiest way for you to know when I post the next chapter to this story. Also I wanted to mention to you guys that if you know anybody who is a huge White Fang fan; go up to them and whisper, "** _ **Fear the wolf."**_ **Trust me after this chapter you'll understand the reference;)**

 _Fact: Jozy's greenish-black hair is not natural; and is not dyed._

"Building the Breach"

The next day Saffeara was eating regular meals, and even started walking around. She had improved amazingly since she had ingested the pack of Beowolves; much to Liz's surprise of course. There had been several cases where humans tried to use the Grimm as a source of food, but every time they would try this the subjects would die from the toxins in the Grimm's blood.

Saffeara was a unique case. Not only had she survived, but the grimm's blood had mixed with her blood and was giving her qualities that she had not possessed otherwise. The first quality was that it apparently made her overall muscle mass grow considerably. Liz had run some tests on her while she was there, and found that she could bench around 300 pounds now. Although it was only an estimation it was correct about 90% of the time so Liz trusted it.

The second quality was the fact that she could run faster. Liz found this out when Saffeara had gotten out of bed and started running a little bit. She was suddenly at the other end of the tent, which Liz could have sworn only Ruby could do.

"So how is she?" a voice asked, ripping Liz out of her thoughts.

Liz looked over and found that Magnolia had entered the tent, and was looking at Saffeara, who was currently eating dinner.

"She's doing fine. She survived and so far I can only see good attributes coming from the Grimm blood inside of her. Now I'm just hoping that she be alright after the procedure later on." Liz said, rubbing the back of her neck.

Saffeara noticed her friend had entered and waved to her before returning to her food. Magnolia waved back before turning back to Liz.

"Hey, can I talk to you in a more private setting?" she said, motioning towards Saffeara with her eyes.

"Of course." Liz replied, walking towards the back of the tent.

Magnolia followed Liz into a cordoned off area that was filled with books. Liz grabbed two chairs and set them inside whilst shutting the curtain.

"Okay so what is it you wanted to talk about, Magenta?" Liz asked.

Magnolia took a deep breath, "Liz, what is Jozy doing? I mean I've been apart of some of his craziest plans, but this one just doesn't feel right."

Liz saw this coming a mile away. Although she could level with her, this at its core, was probably one of the stupidest plans she had ever taken part of. Even though she didn't agree with it she knew why Jozy was doing and tried to level with her.

"Magenta, Jozy's scared. That's why he's doing this."

"What do you mean Liz? As far as I know Jozy has nothing to worry about."

"That's the point we've been out here for months and haven't had any response from Atlas, besides the prison raid. He's on edge, and frankly so am I."

"But why Saffeara?"

"No offense, but she was the weakest link of all of the primal semblance holders. If she couldn't control her semblance she would have endangered us more than she would have helped us." Liz said, putting her hand on Magnolia's left shoulder.

"That's kind of heartless, Liz."

"I know, but in the end she's happier now than she's ever been; and I think she wants to protect you more than anything." Liz said, standing up.

"Listen Magenta, no matter what we'll get Saffeara through this alive." Liz said, opening the curtain.

Magnolia felt reassured by this, and allowed a small smile to grow on her face. She followed Liz to the front of the tent where she saw herself out.

Liz went back over to Saffeara and collected her tray. The Grimm blood had apparently given a larger appetite too.

"So what did Maggy want?" Saffeara asked.

"She, uh, wanted to know when you'll be able to leave." Liz lied.

Saffeara nodded, and went back to looking at her wolf claws.

"Saffeara do you know what's going to happen to you?" Liz asked.

Saffeara looked up at her and cocked an eyebrow, "I'm going to get tied down, and then you're going to implant semblances into me."

Liz felt a lump grow in her throat, "Yes, that's exactly what's going to happen. Are you okay with that?"

"Will it make me stronger?" she replied.

"Presumably, yes."

"Then I'm okay with it. I want to protect all of you and to do that I need to be stronger than I already am." Saffeara said, reclining back on her bed.

This sent Liz into a realm of deep thought, "But what if-"

Liz was interrupted by Kale walking through the tent flap. At this point Liz, already knew it was time.

Saffeara had known this too, and started to sit up. Liz quickly put the tray down, and helped Saffeara out of her bed. She stood up, shakily at first, but found her strength quickly. Kale gave her a nod, through which she reciprocated with a nod of her own. Kale then turned, and left. The two women followed him out of tent, and up to the outskirts of the hole. There, in the Flatlands, the Sequoia Tree had built a metal structure using some of the materials the Mistrali army had brought with them.

Kale opened the door for the two of them and entered himself shortly after. When they entered the room was dark, yet they could make out who was in the room. Jozy, Tyler, Ruby, and Magnolia were all in the room looking at Saffeara.

"Are you ready?" Jozy asked.

Saffeara looked at Liz and then looked back at Jozy," I am."

"Then get her ready." Jozy said, directing it towards Liz.

Liz nodded and started to guide Saffeara towards a door directly behind Ruby. The door closed behind them, filling the room with silence.

Ruby and Jozy ascended a staircase that was just to the left of the door that Saffeara and Liz left through.

"You know this plan is really risky right?" Ruby asked.

"Yep, but you have to look on the brightside if we get this done we'll have the most powerful weapon we'll need." Jozy said, walking to a computer in the room they had just entered.

The room they entered was massive. Inside there had to be at least twenty computer screens that were all monitoring some form energy in the room. Behind the computers were large, reinforced glass, windows that allowed one to look down at where the central table would be. Ruby moved to one of the windows and placed in her gloved hand on the glass. in a few moments she would see Saffeara down there strapped to the table.

After they left, Liz, had brought Saffeara over to a large metal table. The base of the table was set on a rail so that it could be automatically moved to the main room via the control room. Liz released the safety locks on Saffeara's Reflex Armor, and let it fall to the ground with a loud thud.

"After this you won't need Reflex Armor." Liz said, picking it up and throwing it into an adjacent corner.

Saffeara nodded, and then looked at down at her body suit, which was the only thing that she had left on. Liz nodded in confirmation; and allowed Saffeara to take it off herself. Liz had seen Saffeara naked plenty of times, especially after she somehow broke all of her limbs one time; but know she really wished to see her fully clothed. Not out of disgust, of course, but for the fact that if Saffeara was fully clothed right now it meant she wouldn't have to do this.

Saffeara was now fully undressed and waiting for further instructions. Liz motioned for her to get up on the table. She hopped up and shivered once she felt the cold steel hit her bare flesh. She laid down fully and felt Liz snaking cold chain around her body. She then felt the chain tighten over her body to the point it would leave marks later.

"Hey, how are you doin'?" Liz asked moving over to Saffeara's upper body.

"Fine, fine, just fine." Saffeara responded, her nevers getting to her.

Liz grabbed Saffeara's hand, "Relax as long as I'm here nothing bad will happen."

Saffeara gave her a weak smile, before allowing Liz to continue. She grabbed Saffeara's wrist and moved her arm into a 90 degree angle, above her head. She then did it to the other one and then shackled both of her arms to the table. She also shackled her ankles soon after. Liz took a step back and did an over view of her work.

"Are you ready?" Liz asked.

When Saffeara nodded she pushed a red button on the wall and the table started moving forward. Liz followed Saffeara into the main room and instructed the Mistrali soldiers on where to insert the syringes on Saffeara. Saffeara felt one syringe go into her neck and then her chest. It was painful at first, but the years of painful training and equally painful injuries taught her how to deal with pain.

However, the pain she was about to feel was nothing like she had ever experienced before. Liz gave Jozy and Ruby a thumbs up; signaling them to start the process. Jozy, and Ruby started turning knobs and flipping switches. This caused generators in a nearby room to start spinning, which opened several containers. Inside the containers were the collective semblances over every dead guard from the prison, and the fundraiser raids. The semblances flowed down through tubes to where Saffeara was located. When they finally reached her, she screamed out in pain as the immense power surged through her nerves and burnt them like wildfire. Ruby and Liz flinched every time Saffeara cried, but they continued nonetheless.

Eventually, steam started emanating off of Saffeara as the energy started to change her appearance. Her hair crackled as it changed from its dyed blueish-purple color to a natural red and orange color. Her "non-grimm" eye was turned from its luscious pink, to a dark grey. A few more minutes passed before every one of the semblances had been absorbed into Saffeara's body. She immediately went limp when the pain had stopped. Tears were falling freely from her eyes, which were shut closed.

"How is she, Liz?" Jozy asked, using a mic from the control room.

Liz grabbed a tablet from a table behind her and used it to scan Saffeara.

"She's alive, barely. Her biometrics are off the charts I've never seen anything like this." Liz said, thumbing through the touch pad.

Saffeara's head was hung down, and she smelled like charred wood. To any normal person she looked dead. However, when she lifted her head, and broke out of the chains anyone could see that she was more than alive. She fell to the ground on her hands and knees, and took a few moments to get her bearings. When she did stand up, it was very wobbly at first; but soon regained the strength in her legs needed for her to stand up straight. Everyone watched nervously; waiting to see what she would do.

Saffeara looked at her hands with intrigue. She slowly released her claws and found they were all the same, however, they each had their own aura of new power about them.

"This power feels so new yet it's so great at the same!" Saffeara said, a grin growing on her face.

"Saffeara, what do you remember?" Liz asked, stepping out from behind her.

Saffeara turned and looked at Liz, "I remember everything, Liz. Why?"

"Oh, thank god. I thought we would have ruined your memory somewhere along the way." Liz said, a huge weight being lifted off her shoulders.

After she said that they heard a door open; and looked to see the rest of the Sequoia Tree's leadership coming into the room.

Jozy was the first one to speak, "Nice to see you made it."

"Its nice to see that you guys did leave after all." Saffeara teased.

"Well we thought about it, but then we realized that we had nothing better to do." Jozy said, putting his hands behind his head.

Saffeara was about to make another snide remark, but got distracted by Ruby quite literally running circles around her. She looked at Saffeara from head to toe and admired every new thing about her.

Now at any other time Saffeara wouldn't have minded this, but due to the fact that she was naked it made her more than a little uncomfortable. However, she let Ruby have her fun; but she was also silently debating whether or not to punt the girl across the room for the invasion of privacy. After she decided not to, she noticed that Ruby was staring at her feet.

"Hey, Saffeara did you paint your toenails black?" Ruby asked.

"Huh?" Saffeara asked looking down at her feet.

She got a confused expression on her face when she confirmed that her toenails were black. This state of confusion was only compounded when a drop of blood hit the floor. She looked up and felt a wet sensation coming out of her nose. She wiped it off and looked and saw that her fingers were now bloody.

"Uh, Saffeara?" Ruby asked, getting very uneasy.

The room started spinning for the Faunus, and all the color drained from her face. The last thing she remembered was the sound of Liz dropping the tablet as she collapsed.

A day later Saffeara's eyes fluttered open, and were greeted by rays of sunlight streaming through an open window. She slowly sat up and brushed her red and orange hair out of her eyes; and started to look around. She was in a bed with white sheets that smelled of lavender. She looked down and found that someone had dressed her in a light purple cami, and a pair of black shorts. However, she didn't have underwear which was pretty normal for when she wore these type of shorts, but it still made her feel uneasy knowing that somebody deliberately dressed her like that. The reason she felt this way was because she had a deep fear of being raped. If she didn't have this fear, knowing that someone dressed her wouldn't affect her as much.

She continued to look around the room, and found she didn't recognize the tent she was in. She was immediately confused by this, and swung her feet off the side of the bed. She sat there for a moment to make sure that she enough strength in her legs to stand. She then stood up and a little trouble getting her balance, but quickly regained it. She then slowly started to walk out of the bedroom.

She walked into what looked to be the main living room, and off to her right there appeared to be a kitchen. Seeing that no one appeared to be in the living room, she decided to check what appeared to be the kitchen. When Saffeara entered, she noticed the signature purple braid of Magenta Magnolia. She was sitting at a small table with a cup of tea; and was scrolling down on her laptop.

"Maggy?" Saffeara asked, stepping into the kitchen.

Magnolia turned around at such a speed that Saffeara flinched a little. She obviously was not expecting someone to sneak up on her. However, when she recognized Saffeara she got up from her chair and wrapped her friend in a firm hug.

"Oh my God, Saffeara, you're awake. I'm so glad!' she exclaimed.

Saffeara returned Magnolia's hug, "It's good to be back; but what happened?"

"Oh, guess you wouldn't remember now that I think of it. Well, you fainted from fatigue shortly after the procedure; and Liz had me look after you since it was nothing serious." Magnolia said, a glimmer of satisfaction in her eyes.

"Um, okay." she responded trying to fathom the information just given to her.

Suddenly, an alarm went off on Magnolia's scroll. She quickly took it out of her pocket; and looked in horror as she realized she was late.

"Oh crap." She said, hurriedly getting up from the table to grab her things.

Saffeara watched as Magnolia rushed through the tent, grabbing her katana and a black jacket.

"Um, Maggy?" Saffeara asked, confusion painted all over her face.

Magnolia grabbed a few more things before turning around, "Sorry, but I have new recruits to break today so I really have to be going. There's food in the fridge and you can use my laptop."

Saffeara nodded; and went over to the laptop at lightning speed. In a matter of seconds she had the password unlocked, and was already on the internet browser. How they had internet in the middle of the desert she would never know, but she was not complaining.

"Oh yeah, no porn." Magnolia said, before exiting the tent.

Saffeara slowly turned toward the door.

"Okay, mom." Saffeara said, sarcastically.

An hour went by and she had officially gotten bored of the game she had been playing on the laptop. She stood up from the table and started to wander throughout the tent. She looked at pictures of Magnolia's family members, she took stock of all the food she had in her refrigerator, and in a final display of boredom started to roll around on the ground. However, she eventually became bored of this too and found herself back in the room she woke up in. " _I do suppose I could take a nap."_ she thought.

However, before she could lay down, a small box underneath the bed caught her eye. It was old and worn, but looked to still be in one piece. She slowly slid it from underneath the bed and proceeded to slowly open the box.

Inside was a large piece of gray fabric that had creases that appeared blue. She didn't immediately recognize the piece of fabric until she pulled it out. It was a one piece robe that had a hood on the back of it. Its sleeves were cut short; and only went to the point where her arm bent. The hood itself had two pieces of fabric sewn onto either side of it that looked like ears.

Saffeara felt a wave of melancholy wash over her. This was the robe she wore before she had her Faunus ears removed. She had always wondered where it went; apparently Magnolia had kept it all this time. The sound of the tent's flap opening brought Saffeara back to reality.

"Hello? Saffeara?" a familiar voice called out.

She put the robe down and went to meet her guest. She walked out and saw Liz standing in the living room rather awkwardly. She was carrying another datapad in her left arm.

"Hey, Liz." Saffeara said, walking into the room.

Liz turned and looked genuinely surprised to see Saffeara.

"Wow, Saffera, you never cease to amaze me. To be this chipper after what happened is extraordinary." Liz said.

Saffeara blushed a bit, "Well I do aim to please."

"So why are you here, Liz?"

"Oh, Magenta, told me you were awake and I wanted to give you a check up when you woke up." She said, sitting on the small futon in the room.

"Oh, okay." Saffeara said, sitting on the futon as well.

She allowed Liz to check her vitals, and other things that were all standard check up procedures.

"Well the only thing I could find is that your biometrics are still above normal; but that is most likely due to the massive quantity of semblances inside of you. Other than that you're healthy." Liz said, standing up.

Saffeara breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good, so what about my eye?"

"It's completely fine. There's nothing that really tells me that it is harming you in any way." Liz said.

"Oh, okay." Saffeara said, feeling slightly ashamed for worrying about it.

"Hey, Saffeara, do you have some other clothes to change into?" Liz asked.

She cocked an eyebrow at Liz, not understanding why she was asking this.

"Jozy wanted to talk to you about a mission." Liz said, answering her silent question.

"Oh, well, yeah I have something; but I need some bandages first." Saffeara said.

This caught Liz off guard since Saffeara had never asked for bandages before; usually Kale did that. She dug into her pocket and produced a roll of bandages; and handed it to Saffeara.

"What are you going to do with it?" she asked, curiously.

"I'm going to make a bra out of it really quickly. Thank you." Saffeara said; returning to the bedroom.

It took longer than she thought, but she finished wrapping her chest with the bandages and stuck a pin through them just to make sure they stayed. She let the black shorts serve as her panties for the time being, before looking at the box again. She withdrew her old robe, and slipped over her head. She was very happy when she found that it still fit her very well with the bottom coming just above her shins. She didn't bother putting on shoes or even socks. Whatever that procedure had done; immunity to all forms of pain was on the list. The finishing touch was the pulling of the hood over her head. The greyish-blue clashed with her new hair in a way that she could have never imagined. She looked into a mirror and a sadistic grin grew on her face. " _Maybe today the wolf will play."_ She thought to herself; before exiting the bedroom.

Liz got a satisfied smirk on her face when she saw her again. However, when she looked at her feet the look of satisfaction turned to a look of confusion.

"Aren't you going to wear any shoes?" she asked.

"Nah, ever since the procedure the rocks don't hurt my feet anymore." Saffeara replied.

This was the first time Liz had heard of this so she was skeptical, but went along with it anyway. Both of them exited the tent and headed for the rim of the hole.

As they walked Liz noticed that what Saffeara had said was true. She walked over some of the sharpest rocks, and didn't even look down or flinch in pain. Liz moved to roughly the same walking speed as Saffeara to get a better look. upon further inspection it appeared that the rocks couldn't even break her skin. All the while Saffeara allowed her to do this. She found an odd sense of amusement in watching Liz try to figure out things she did not understand.

However, she amusement was cut short by them arriving at their destination. In front of them Jozy stood looking up at the grey sky. He turned around, and got a smik on his face when he recognized Saffeara.

"You know if I knew you were going to be this late, I would have ordered pizza." Jozy said, directing it towards Liz.

"Oh ha ha; If you wanted her that badly you could have gotten her yourself or could have kidnapped her." Liz retorted, with a playful smile.

"True, but I'm lazy." He said, walking up to the two women.

"How are you doing Saffeara?"

"I'm fine, thanks." she replied.

"Oh good." he said.

Jozy turned back to Liz.

"Sorry, Liz, but I would like to have this discussion with Saffeara alone."

Liz rolled her eyes playfully, "Of course."

With that Liz started the descent down the hill.

"Walk with me Saffeara." Jozy said, turning around.

Saffeara turned with him and started walking beside him.

"While you were out, we received a message concerning a White Fang encampment to the east."

"White Fang in the east? That wouldn't happen to be located in Forever Fall would it?"

"It would be. They've been steadily strengthening their position as well."

"I thought the only known remnant of the White Fang in the Vale region were on the western coast."

"That's what we thought as well until yesterday."

Silence fell on the two before Saffeara started it again.

"So what do you want me to do?" she asked.

"The only way to destroy an enemy that does not fear death is to make them fear life. I want you to go and slaughter the White Fang. Not kill, slaughter. No survivors. I also need you bring their white masked lieutenant back alive." Jozy said.

Saffeara thought about it for moment. The White Fang were her Faunus brothers, yet they wanted to kill her.

"If you don't want to do it I understand." Jozy said.

Saffeara raised her hand stopping him from saying anything further.

"The White Fang slander the name of every peace loving Faunus. It would be my honor to kill them till the ground is stained with their blood." she said; a playful smile on her face.

A smile grew on Jozy's face, " The Bullhead leaves in one hour."

"I just have one request." Saffeara mentioned before he left.

"What would that be?"

"You wouldn't happen to know where any chain is located would you?"

The Bullhead flew through the air at maximum speed. Inside sat Saffeara who was admiring her handy work. She wrapped chain around her arms to serve as arm guards. She did the same thing to her shins, and formed an "x" shape with the chain over her chest. She wrapped Shadowmancer around her waist as a contingency plan.

"One minute till the dropzone ma'am." The pilot voiced over the intercom.

Saffeara stood up and waited for the bay doors to open.

"30 seconds."

She took a deep breath.

"10 seconds."

Saffeara counted it down in her head.

Suddenly the bay door opened and flooded the aircraft with intense waves of air. Saffeara didn't hesitate and rushed out of the door and proceeded to glide through the air. She then went into a steep dive, and headed straight for the ground. Saffeara waited till she could see the red tops of the trees, before switching her position. She landed with a massive thud; her aura protecting her from the impact damage.

She stood up from her crouched position, and watched the Bullhead break of back towards the Hole. She looked around at the red trees of Forever Fall, and noticed that a lot of its trees and shrubbery had been cut down. This made her stomach turn since the Forever Fall was a sacred place for all Faunus. However, she did look on the bright side this was a sign that would lead her right to the White Fang. She got an excited smile on her face skinnier than normal soldiers and their weapons were rusted and old. However, they appeared to be in good spirits, and had plenty of ammunition. She debated whether or not to back off and attack with stealth; or to just go in guns blazing. She decided on a combination of the two.

She got out of her hiding place and started to walk through the field, towards the base. As she walked three soldiers noticed her and ran out in the field towards her.

"Hey, stop!" they yelled.

Saffeara decided to humor them, and stopped. The three of them surrounded her and pointed their assault rifles in her face.

"Who the hell are you? State your business." Their leader asked.

Saffeara wore a playful smirk on her face as she looked over the soldier. When she turned back to the leader he noticed her read eye and got all the more uneasy. He moved closer to her and almost touched her with the barrel of his gun.

"What the fuck are you?" he asked.

This made Saffeara chuckle for a bit before grabbing the barrel of the gun. She then bent the rifle's barrel to an almost a ninety degree angle.

"The Sequoia Tree sends its regards." she whispered.

The soldier's eyes went wide, before one of the other soldiers shot her in the head. Her head recoiled but the rest of her body was as firm as a stone. Suddenly they saw what looked like a flat rock fall from her head; and immediately recognized it as the bullet. She turned towards the one who shot her with a sadistic smile on her face.

The leader and the other soldier froze, whilst the one who shot Saffeara dropped his gun and started to run away. One second Saffeara was still amongst the two soldiers and the next she was in front of the running soldier. He was running so fast that he couldn't stop himself in time. Saffeara grabbed his head and ripped it off; his body running a few more steps behind her before falling down. She took the head in both of her hands and looked at its cold dead eyes

"Hello apple." She said, before dropping it to the ground.

She moved over to the soldier's dropped rifle and picked it up. She let out a burst of speed, and appeared behind the other soldier. She shot him in the head and then stabbed the leader with the barrel. Blood came out of his mouth as he gagged and fell to the ground. She withdrew the rifle and tossed it to the ground.

She stuck two fingers into the leaders wound which made him scream out in pain. This action alerted the rest of the base. She brought her fingers up and licked the blood off her fingers.

"You know you Faunus taste like shit. It's like eating a raw animal carcass mixed with human scraps. All bark and no bite." Saffeara said, wiping the remaining blood on her robe.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked.

"You should know me. I'm the one who ate little red riding food." she replied, before stomping on his head; killing him instantly.

She looked at the rest of the base and took off at full sprint.

Inside the base the lieutenant heard the sounds of fighting outside. He quickly ran over to his chainsaw and grabbed it. He revved the motor and ran outside. Outside the base was falling quickly to an unseen enemy. Half of the supplies were on fire and the ground was littered with bodies and the blood was pooled like puddles of rainwater. However, the only sounds he heard now was eerie silence. he took a few steps toward their barracks and was relieved when he saw a soldier leaning against a pole.

"Hey! Are you alright?" he yelled, whilst running over to him.

The soldier gave no response and didn't even turn around to acknowledge his existence.

"Hey, what are you deaf?" he asked, grabbing his shoulder.

When he did that the soldiers head fell off, and large chunk of skin was left in the lieutenant's hand. he looked at the soldier in horror as he realized what happened. Whoever did this had skinned him first and then decapitated him. They then set him up like a… mannequin.

That last word sent him into a rage and went in search of Saffeara. It didn't take him long to find her as she was on her knees in the middle of the base. She was currently devouring a soldier's semblance. Seeing this the lieutenant let out a mighty yell and ran at her. Saffeara was surprised by this and couldn't react. He stabbed his chainsaw through her and left it there for a moment, ensuring that her organs were mutilated. Saffeara coughed up a massive amount of blood with such a great amount of force that her hood fell off her head. the lieutenant saw his opening and ripped the chainsaw free of Saffeara and then in one motion cut her head off.

Lightning cracked across the sky as the rain from the storm started to fall. Saffeara's head rolled down her back as her body fell forward. The rain mingled with the blood on the ground and created a soupy substance on the ground. The lieutenant took one last look at the lifeless head on the ground before turning his back. He deactivated his chainsaw and started to walk away.

"Didn't your teachers ever teach you not to turn your back on your enemy?" a voice said behind him.

He turned quickly and saw a black substance coming from Saffeara's body that was moving her head back over to her body. It only took a few seconds for her head to become attached again; and for her to stand up as good as new.

"Aren't regenerative powers great?" she asked, a crazy grin on her face.

The lieutenant panicked and went to reeve his chainsaw again. However, Saffeara was faster. She pulled Shadowmancer off her waist and severed his legs; all in one motion. She then wrapped it around her waist and withdrew a grey Dust crystal out of her sleeve. As the lieutenant fell she shoved into his chest , and Dust crystals formed and burst out of his back. He fell to the ground unable to move.

"What is this?" he said, struggling to move.

"It's called restrictive Dust. The more you struggle the more crystals from in your joints making it even harder to move. All thanks to the heiress of the Schnee Dust company." Saffeara said.

The lieutenant recognized who she was talking about and started struggling and yelling in anger. Saffeara went over to man and picked him up by his head and suspended him in the air.

"Don't be mad sweety. You're going to have so much fun when we get back to the Sequoia tree. Aren't we?" Saffeara asked.


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: Hey guys I'm back with another chapter to RWBY:Darkfall! Yay! So I bet you're wondering where the Chapter title is. Never fear I didn't make a mistake I'm just trying out a new format for the chapter. So thank you guys so much for the support on my story, it's still kind of hard to believe that I started this in late July and have gotten a lot of support since then. I love all of you guys and hope to continue bringing you great stories in the near future so please follow, review, and favorite.**

 _Fact: Magnolia is the only member of the Sequoia Tree's leadership(excluding Ruby) that is named specifically for a color._

The room was black and smelled of bleach. That's at least what he thought the room was. He couldn't tell anymore. Hours had passed in that time he had been dragged into a Bullhead; and then given over to Saffeara Vain. The Lieutenant was then embedded into a concrete wall via the Dust crystals sprouting from his back. It was about that time that Saffeara brought over a needle and a lot of thread.

She sewed his eyes and mouth shut whilst humming a lullaby. This was why he had no idea if the room was dark or not. The only thing he could be sure of was that the smell of bleach was emanating off of him as well, probably used to clean the blood off the ground.

The room itself was actually filled with LED lights; and Saffera was sitting just a few feet away from him on a wooden stool. She had her legs crossed and was completely naked from the waist down. The bandages she was using for a bra had come apart and was barely covering her. The chains that were wrapped around her arms and shins were still there and clattered every time she moved.

She bent over a bit, "You look so cute there, Lieutenant."

The only reply she got was a hissing sound. This made a smile break out on her face. Unfortunately, the fun could not continue as Saffeara felt another presence enter the room.

She stood up, "Is it time, Ruby?"

Ruby had entered the room with her hands behind her back. She was dressed in her full Reflex Armor; and had her mask on.

"Yep." she replied; walking up to Saffeara.

Saffeara got an amused look on her face when she saw her do this.

"Now Ruby, what would Weiss think if she found you in here with a naked woman?" she asked; a playful smile.

"I don't know, but she knows I'm faithful and you're a little too old for me." Ruby replied.

Saffera got a mock look of broken heartedness, "But Ruby, I'm not _that_ old."

Ruby rolled her eyes in response.

"So how's your 'pet'?" Ruby asked.

"Oh he's great. Mama's pride and joy. I just neutered him and gave him all his shots." Saffeara replied; grabbing her robe off of a nearby table.

Ruby chuckled a bit, "It's kind of funny for years he preached that humans treated them like animals. Now he's the pet of a Faunus."

"Karma's a bitch, Ruby. Come on let's go see what the next step is." Saffeara said, throwing the robe over her head.

Ruby nodded and followed her out of the room.

"So when are you going to kill him?" Ruby asked

"Um, I don't know. I'm pretty sure I want to remove his fingernails first though." Saffeara replied

RWBY: Darkfall

"Homecoming"

Ruby and Saffeara emerged from the cave/room that Saffeara was keeping the Lieutenant captive. They were greeted by overcast skies, and the whole Sequoia Tree lined up in even rows that spanned the length of the Hole. On the outer rim a mixture of Sequoia Tree and Mistrali forces were looking into the the center of the base.

In the center was a crude stage where Jozy, Kale, Tyler, and Liz were all standing. Behind them stood Magnolia, the rest of Team RWBY, and GHST squad. Ruby and Saffeara quickly made their way onto the stage, and took their places amongst the rest of the leadership.

"Fashionably late as always, Saffeara." Tyler chidded.

"Eat me, Tyler." she responded raising her voice just high enough so that only he could hear it.

Tyler chuckled a bit, "There's a joke there somewhere."

Saffeara shot Tyler a sly look with an equally sly smirk. However, before the banter could continue, Jozy, stepped forward.

"Gentlemen the time has come. Over the past three months we have steadily been growing our presence in Remnant and this is its climax. Today 50,000 thousand Sequoia tree soldiers , joined by 30,000 Mistrali soldiers, will march on Vale and destroy the Blockade."

A shout of celebration echoed throughout the crowd.

"This army will be split into two; that will be lead by Scatter; and the Wolf. The remaining leadership will remain in the air until the blockade is taken down. Also Team RWBY, and GHST squad will be behind the Blockade supporting you from the enemy's rear. Are there any questions?"

Every soldier looked at each other, and then shook their heads; complete and utter confidence shone in their eyes.

"Good! Then let's begin. All commanding officers lead your men out of the Hole; and proceed to your staging points." Jozy commanded.

Every soldier, tank, android, and hover aircraft started to move towards the blockade. the movement was so great that it probably would have kicked up a small sandstorm; however, a fog bank had rolled in, dampening the ground. Ruby stuck a mic in her ear and checked to see if it was on.

"Divisional Commanders this is Scatter, how copy?" she said.

She listened as each of her subordinates responded to her.

"I'm also here, Scatter." Saffeara said.

Ruby got a smirk on her face as she broke out into a sprint.

"Nice to know I contact with the other half of the Sequoia Tree." she responded.

"Indeed, so are you ready to go home, Ruby?" Saffeara asked, choosing not to use Ruby's fake name.

Ruby got a mirthful smile on her face, "I've been ready for three months."

Saffeara chuckled a bit, "Don't act like Atlas is defeated just yet. The battle hasn't even begun."

"I know." she responded.

At that moment Ruby reached the front of her army.

"You ready to start?" Ruby asked.

"Whenever you are. Saffeara Vain out." she said, cutting the connection.

Ruby removed her hand and raised her other one above her head. Every one of the soldiers behind her prepared to march. Ruby dropped her hand and began the march. Every soldier followed her with in a row of five; and the sounds their boots made echoed through the desert. Saffeara heard the marching and did the same to her troops. Above them Bullheads and jet aircraft were speeding on ahead towards the Blockade.

The reached their target minutes later. The Blockade was a massive wall that had been erected to keep not only the inhabitants of Vale inside, but to keep the rest of the world out. Inside the Blockade were approximately 50,000 Atlysian, and conscripted Valysian soldiers. The wall itself went 15 feet into the air; which kept Grimm away via the large anti-aircraft guns on the top of it. These guns were now pointed at the Sequoia Tree; and ready to bear all Hell on their aircraft. However, Jozy, had a trick up his sleeve.

"Is it ready, Liz?" he asked.

Liz brought a large case over to the middle of the Bullhead.

"Whenever you are." She said, opening it.

Inside of the case was large screen with a keyboard attached to it. She raised an antenna out of it and looked over to Jozy; her finger poised over a blue pulsating button. Jozy took moment to give the order.

"Do it." He said.

Liz pressed the button, and an electric blue pulse erupted from the Bullhead. It tracked across the sky and enveloped everything. On the ground the anti-aircraft guns powered down and the lightbulbs of the searchlights shattered.

"So that's why our armor and vehicles were upgraded." Ruby said; looking up at the lightshow.

A half a mile away Saffeara was looking at the same thing. A blissful smile cracked across her face.

"An EMP. Liz you do think of everything." she muttered.

"Saffeara we're ready to assault the wall." her second in command said.

"No, I will strike first and you kill any that I leave behind." Saffeara said, putting her hood up.

The commander nodded and took Saffeara's place at the front of the army.

"I'll see you at the wall." she said, withdrawing her claws.

With that she broke into an all out sprint and headed for the wall.

Inside the wall the Atlysians were in full panic mode. Their communications had been cut; and the Sequoia Tree was now landing troops behind the wall itself. On top of all that Mistrali fighter jets were taking gun emplacements and heavy artillery sights.

Seeing that they would not be able to get any reinforcements their leaders sent teams out to guard the main gates that were scattered around the wall. Unfortunately, that was right where Saffeara was headed.

She emerged from the fog alone. The wind blew the ears of her hood back and forth as her bare feet smacked the cracking pavement of the road. Four shock troopers moved in front of the soldiers and placed their full-body shields toward Saffeara.

"Stay on guard! Prepare to fire when she's within 100 meters!" the leader yelled.

"Sir, why is there only one of them? The report said, 'The Sequoia Tree was over 100,000 strong.' " a soldier asked.

"I don't know, Corporal, but let's fix one problem at a time." the leader replied.

Due to Saffeara's enhanced Faunus hearing she overheard the leader. She got a mischievous smirk on her face as she stopped on meter before 100 meters.

"Appearently she's a smartass too. Open fire!" the leader commanded.

A wall of lead was launched at Saffeara and tore apart everything in its path, however, Saffeara appeared to vanish into thin air. The only thing that was left of where she was was a plume of smoke. The soldiers were immediately were confused and started to look around for the cloaked woman.

They found her soon enough when they realized that there commander had not said, any further orders. They turned around and were horrified to find their commander half imbedded in the wall by Saffeara's foot. Saffeara removed her foot from the leader's chest and turned towards the other soldiers. The leader's body fell to Saffeara's feet.

She looked down, "Who's next?"

A grin broke across her face as she jumped into the soldiers, tearing them limb from limb.

On the other front, Ruby, had blown apart the the main gate and was on the other side of the wall. A pile of bodies had been set up inside the Atlysian base that was going to be set ablaze later. Ruby was sitting on top of the main metal building inside of the base, her armor now covered by her tattered black trench coat. She had removed her mask; and had replaced it with her red bifocals. She was reading a report from her second in command concerning the Valysian soldiers that were forced to fight. In the battle they had captured over 200 Valysian soldiers who had just given up willingly.

"Ma'am?" A voice asked.

Ruby looked up and saw it was her second in command, Colonel Arrons.

"Yes, Colonel?" Ruby responded putting the paper down.

"I just wanted to let you know that the men are ready to move out. Also team RWBY has cleared the way for us." He reported.

"Good, is there any news from Saffeara?" Ruby asked.

"Yes ma'am, she has broken through her section of wall; and is planning to move out in 20 minutes."

Ruby nodded, "Have the troops ready to move out in the same time frame."

"Yes, ma'am; have you gotten the time to look over my report?" he asked.

Ruby knew he would ask this. Like her the Colonel was a native of Vale that joined the Sequoia Tree.

"I have, but I can't do anything about them. You should probably get Mannequin, or Magnolia on the radio and ask them." Ruby replied, taking off her glasses.

"Will do, Ma'am." he responded, saluting her.

He then turned on his heel and left Ruby. She stood up and withdrew her scroll from her trench coat's pocket to check the time. The first thing she saw was a picture of Weiss she had taken, whilst the heiress was asleep the second morning she had been in the Hole. Ruby had to stop herself from staring and checked the time. The allotted 20 minutes was almost up; and soon they would be moving again. She took a deep breath and looked up into the sky before putting her mask back on. She descended the building preparing to lead the men into battle once again.

Above them, however, was the all seeing eye of Atlas. An Atlysian drone had snapped a picture of Ruby and her men and sent it to Ironwood's command.

"I thought you said, 'She was dead.', Virgil." Ironwood said; sitting in his chair.

A tall lanky man dressed in a pinstripe suit emerged from behind the chair.

"Yes, it would appear that Miss Rose is still kicking. Even though she's been tortured, blown up, and speared by a trained Huntsman." Virgil said; holding his chin with a sly gaze.

"How is that possible?" Ironwood asked.

"Frankly sir, I have no clue; but if we were able to capture again I could run some test and find out exactly why she is so hard to kill." Virgil offered.

"No, we don't have time. We need to accelerate our plans. What's the status of Amity Colosseum?" Ironwood asked.

"Currently floating above Vale."

"Cinder Fall and Penny?"

"Inside the Colosseum being guarded by Team HHRM" Virgil replied.

"Good then it should only be a matter of hours." Ironwood said, standing up from his chair.

"Take your best shot, Mannequin, at the end of the day you won't have any chance." he said; turning off the computer.

Meanwhile Team RWBY, led by Weiss and Magnolia. were clearing Archer Artillery guns that were trying to take aim at the Sequoia Tree forces at the wall. Weiss was running as fast as her glyphs would allow her. In front of her three Atlysian soldiers were trying to load the artillery gun as fast as humanly possible. Off to her left Blake, and Yang were running across the the field as fast as they could. The soldiers finally noticed that team RWBY was approaching their position.

One of them ran over to a crate and opened it. He withdrew a rocket launcher that shot an incendiary rocket that would leave an area of Thermite wherever it detonated. He hefted the launcher and fired it. The rocket left the tube and flew right towards Blake. Yang saw what was about to happen and moved over to her girlfriend. She shoulder charged Blake out of the way and took the brunt of the rocket. Yang put Ember Celica between her and the explosion that resulted from the rocket impacting the ground in front of her. The sturdy Ember Celica held up against the explosion extraordinarily well. However, the sticky thermite was like taking a blowtorch to a piece of gold. It covered the length of Ember Celica as well as the tops of her hands and elbows. Yang jumped away from the explosion; and dropped to one knee, the pain from her burned hands and elbows was almost too much for her. She ripped off Ember Celica and buried them in the loose sandy soil that was the outskirts of the Deathwind. This action smothered the Thermite; and saved her weapons. Blake got up off the ground quickly and ran over to Yang.

When she saw the burns she immediately reached into a black messenger bag that she carried with her. She produced a large roll of gauze and wrapped it around Yang's arms and elbows. She then wrapped her up in a hug.

"Thanks."she said.

"Oh, don't mention it." Yang replied to her.

Weiss saw that Yang was okay she pressed on her attack. She bobbed and weaved as the soldiers shot round after round at her. Finally, the opportunity to destroy the gun presented itself when the soldier reloaded his rocket launcher and shot it at her. She used a glyph to catch the rocket in mid air and slingshotted it back at them.

The rocket flew back at the soldier and hit him square in the chest. It obliterated him into a hundred fiery, meaty chunks that set the ammo stores for the artillery gun. The soldiers saw this and started to jump over the sandbags that had previously been used to protect them. The supersonic shells exploded and sent the soldiers flying into the air. Weiss sheathed Myrtenaster and walked over to survey her work.

Blake and Yang joined her soon after. Yang had put Ember Celica back on, and looked better than most people would after taking a rocket.

"So how many do we have left?" Yang asked; sitting on the ground.

"I believe that was the last one." Blake said, looking at Weiss for some sort of confirmation.

Weiss thought about it for a second before giving her answer.

"Yeah, that was the last one." Weiss said, sitting on the ground.

However, she suddenly heard the sound of a blowing coat next to her. She looked over her left shoulder to find Magnolia's face mere inches away from hers. Weiss let out a shriek as she jumped away from the commander.

"Holy shit, Magnolia! I almost had a heart attack." Weiss exclaimed.

Magnolia chuckled at the younger girl, "You need to loosen up, I only came to congratulate you on doing a fantastic job."

"Well, uh, thanks I guess." Weiss said, standing up.

Yang and blake also gave their thanks to their commander.

"Your welcome." she said; giving them all a smile.

However, that smile quickly changed to a determined look as they heard the sound of jet engines. An Atlysian Bullhead moved out from some trees in the distance and started raining machinegun fire. Magnolia, and Team RWBY took cover behind the remaining sandbags.

"Any ideas of how to kill it!" Yang yelled; as the high caliber rounds impacted the ground in front of them.

"I've got none. Its armor makes it immune to Dust so that limits our options." Weiss responded.

"Oh is it?" Magnolia asked.

Weiss looked over at Magnolia; and saw her draw her purple katana, Evercaster. She then pressed a button on its hilt that separated the blade into three parts that moved into a triangle shape around the hilt. Inside of the triangle started to conducted a large yellow ball of electricity. Weiss watched as Magnolia stood up and fired Evercaster. The ball of electricity streaked across the air and impacted the Bullhead's right engine. It cut the engine off of the Bullhead like a hot knife to butter. The loss of the engine and the force of the blow knocked the airships stabilizers out and sent it crashing to the ground in a ball of fire.

Team RWBY stood up and watched as she blew the smoke off of Evercaster; and returned it to its normal katana form.

"There problem fixed." she said; sheathing her weapon.

"Problem fixed? What the hell was that weapon? I know Dust and I know that no Dust could have ever broken the armor on that Bullhead; so whatever that sword just shot, it was not Dust." Weiss said. crossing her arms.

"Miss Schnee it's a secret." Magnolia said, a sly smirk on her face.

Weiss was about to counter her, but noticed that Magnolia had seen something off in the distance. Fearing the worst she drew Myrtenaster and spun around; however, what she saw was not necessarily a bad thing.

Off in the distance the fog bank had lifted and one could clearly see the tall skyscrapers of Vale rising over the trees.

"Wow, is that..." Yang trailed off.

"That, Yang , is Vale." Magnolia confirmed.

"How close are we?" Blake asked in return.

"We are probably about 18 miles out." Magnolia said, putting her hand on Weiss's shoulder.

"Get ready to celebrate, because Saffeara and Ruby could be here at any time." she said.

Yang and Blake cheered as they walked away, but Magnolia held Weiss in place.

"Make sure you spend a lot of time with Ruby tonight, because tomorrow we assualt Vale." Magnolia said; before leaving.

Weiss herself had her own reserves about having Ruby on the front lines, but know she was uncertain if she even wanted her to fight at all. She clenched her fists and walked toward the makeshift landing zone that Blake and Yang were setting up. An aura of uncertainty emanated off of her with every step. Who was in that city that Weiss was so scared of?


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: So I posted this late because I'm suffering from Fallout 4 addiction. Hehe yeah anyway thank you guys for all you support and remember to favorite, review, and follow to get chapters the fastest.**

 _ **Fact: Originally white rose was the only ship present in RWBY:Darkfall. I added more out of necessity and to thicken the plot.**_

"White Silence"

In a dark tent on the outskirts of Vale, Weiss, was exasperated mess. Her heavy breathing was gradually becoming less raspy as the sweat disappeared from her forehead. It was nightmare so bad that she had screamed in her sleep. This woke Ruby up, who now had her arms wrapped around the crying woman. She kissing her girlfriend's head and whispering comforting words into her ear. Weiss's hair was drenched in sweat so bad that its ends were damp. Both women were sitting in the bed they shared holding each other. In fact Ruby was certain that if Weiss was any stronger she could have suffocated her; she was holding so tight. After what seemed like an eternity Weiss finally calmed down.

Ruby shifted Weiss so that she could look at her. She saw that Weiss still had tears running down her face; and her eyes were half covered by her messy, matted bangs. Ruby got a small, comforting smile on her face as she wiped the tears off the woman's face with her thumbs. She then turned her attention to Weiss's hair and brushed it out of her eyes.

"Hey, there beautiful." Ruby said, kissing her forehead.

Weiss closed her eyes when she felt the sensation of Ruby's lips touch her forehead.

"What happened?" Ruby asked; whilst pulling away.

"I-I, uh, had a nightmare." Weiss replied.

"Are you alright?" Ruby asked somewhat timidly.

Weiss threw her arms around her girlfriend and buried her face in Ruby's shoulder. Ruby was surprised by this, but wrapped her arms around her anyway.

"I-I don't know." Weiss said, a new wave of sobs enveloped her.

Ruby felt a weird sense of deja vu sweep over her. It was a veg memory that seemed so far away after the events that had taken place over the last few months.

It was around a year ago when Ruby had a terrible nightmare and Yang had been sent out on a solo mission. Ruby had felt like she hit rock bottom and no one could save her from whatever was hiding in her dreams. however, she never would have guessed that the one person to save her from that night would be the ice cold heiress. That night Weiss held Ruby the same way that Ruby was currently holding her.

"Weiss, what happened?" Ruby asked.

"I saw you, yet you weren't yourself. It was like you were someone totally different; completely enveloped in a dark rage. Our friends were there, but in one single bright flash they were turned to ash and coated the ground. Jaune, Phyrra,Nora,Ren all of team JNPR were there and all of them died." Weiss said; wrapping her arms tighter.

Ruby was very concerned about this dream, especially since in just a few hours she would be back in Vale.

"Weiss, you know that's not going to happen. I mean look at me what do I have to be mad at?" Ruby asked.

Weiss pulled back and looked at her, "I guess you're right."

"And Team JNPR should be safe inside Beacon, so you have nothing to worry about." Ruby said, giving her girlfriend a reassuring smile.

Weiss put her head down; and let a smile grow on her face, "Yeah, you're right. I guess I was just a little stressed out."

Ruby nodded; and got out of bed. She grabbed her armor and started to put it on.

"Listen the operation doesn't start for another few hours so I want you to go back to bed. Ruby said, throwing her t-shirt and black shorts into a hamper.

"But what about you?"

"I'll be back in about an hour. I just wanted to sharpen Black Feather first before we left today."

Weiss couldn't argue her in doing that; she'd felt the blade of Ruby's rapier and it was so dull it made her cringe. So Weiss decided to give in and laid back down. Ruby got a soft smile on her face as she grabbed Black Feather, which was conveniently placed next to Myrtenaster. The reason why it was placed there was so Ruby didn't misplace it, _again_. Ruby placed the weapon on her left thigh; and exited the tent.

The Sequoia Tree had set up camp next to a large freshwater lake that was located in a small forest just outside of Vale The ground was covered in snow from the day before; and Ruby's boots crunched in the frozen substance as she walked. She had only half lied when she said she was going to sharpen Black Feather. That was the second thing she needed to do the first thing she needed to do was visit Liz.

Ruby made her way over to the makeshift medical tent that had been set up for her.

Ruby pushed her way through the tent flap and called out her name.

"Liz!" she yelled.

"Be out in a minute!" Liz yelled from the bathroom.

A few seconds later Liz emerged and hastily put what looked to be a white stick into her pocket.

"Hey, what was that Liz?" Ruby asked, her curiosity to much to handle.

Liz looked like a deer in the headlights when she asked this, "It's, um, nothing Ruby."

"What? Hey, are you alright?" Ruby asked.

Ruby didn't understand why Liz wanted to keep whatever it was a secret; and at the last moment Ruby noticed that Liz was very pale.

"I'm fine, Ruby, just been feeling under the weather this morning. It'll pass trust me." Liz said, sitting at her desk

"Oh, okay." Ruby said, pulling up a chair.

" _You sound like you've experienced this before Liz."_ Ruby thought.

"So what did you need to talk about?" Liz asked.

Ruby felt her face get hot, "I, um, need help getting a certain item."

"Well, if you need tampons I can give you a box." Liz offered.

"Oh no,no,no,no,no I don't need those. I'm actually good on those for once."

"Wow that's a surprise. It looks like Weiss is having a positive influence on you." Liz said.

Ruby laughed a bit.

"So what is it you wanted to ask me about?"

"Um…" Ruby looked around, before going closer to Liz and whispering in her ear. Liz's eyes went wide when she heard what Ruby needed.

When Ruby backed away she saw that Liz's mouth was open in a shocked smile. Ruby sat there nervously for a moment.

"Oh my god, wow, um, you'll need a dress, cake, decorations…" Liz trailed off, when she felt Ruby shake her.

"Wow, Liz calm down I just need you to find me this one thing for right now." Ruby said.

"Oh, right I'm sorry. I'll try and find it for you." Liz said, standing up.

Ruby stood up as well, "Thanks, I really appreciate it."

Liz nodded and watched Ruby leave. She sat down and braced her head up with her arm. " _She's growing up so fast. Summer would be so proud."_ Liz thought, absentmindedly.

Suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder and had to resist the urge to jump out of her skin. She turned toward the person with a faux smile on her face. Jozy was standing beside her with his hands behind his back.

"Wow, you look angry; should I go someplace else for a while?" Jozy asked, with mock concern.

It took everything Liz had to stand up calmly and not strangle her husband.

"Jozy, one time could you use the front entrance like a normal person?" she asked.

"Aww, but where's the fun in that?" he replied.

"That's the point there is no fun in it, because your version of fun involves things that make me want to pee my pants. Which did happen one time mind you."

Jozy laughed a little, "Yeah, your face was amazing. I don't think I've ever seen you blush so hard. There weren't even people in the room besides me."

"What! That's because I had decided to wear a skirt that day and it ran down my legs."

"I know you even made a puddle. You should really go to the bathroom more often Liz."

Liz facepalmed, "That's not even the point. Ugh, anyway this is not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Okay, so what did you need to talk about?" Jozy asked.

Liz looked around and then led Jozy deeper into the tent so that nobody could overhear them.

Meanwhile Ruby was busy sharpening Black Feather. She had just retrieved her sharpening and cleaning kit; and now set in the dim light of Weiss and she's shared tent. Her mind was occupied by the dream that Weiss had described earlier that morning. Deep down Ruby knew that dream had some merit to it. Inside of Vale they had no idea what still resided there. Sure one could deduce that there were still civilians and soldier there, but it was the unknown factor of how many huntresses and huntsmen were still in the city. This factor had spooked the regular foot soldiers to no end; and that's why people like Kale, Tyler, Jozy, and even Liz would be on the ground today.

Ruby was interrupted from her thoughts by Weiss shifting under the covers of

thier bed. Ruby had made sure that the small lamp that she was currently using was pointed away from her, but now that she thought about it the sound of sharpening metal probably wasn't the most quiet thing. Weiss sat up with a very tired expression; her hair a wild bed-induced mess.

"I'm sorry I was trying to be quiet, but it looks like I wasn't." Ruby said, a little timidly.

Weiss turned to Ruby, "No you're okay. I usually get up around this time anyway."

"Oh, okay." Ruby said.

Weiss walked over to Ruby and sat across from her. Weiss had been gifted a light blue nightgown from Liz and had since never slept without it. One thing that Ruby admired the most about it was that it showed of the prettier side of Weiss. The normally reserved heiress looked amazing in the low cut, spaghetti strap nightgown. However, one strap had fallen down her shoulder which only added to her dishevelled look.

Ruby let out a little laugh as the ivory haired started to doze off at the table. This woke her up and caused her to look at Ruby with a questioning look.

"I think you need some coffee, Weiss." Ruby said.

"Yeah, I also need a shower; but I'm seriously contemplating just skipping it." Weiss admitted.

Ruby let out another small laugh, "Don't do that otherwise you'll regret it later."

"Speaking of later when is the operation supposed to start?"

"In about an hour. The plan was to have the advanced scouts infiltrate the city perimeter last night; but with the rumors of Huntsmen and Huntresses actively patrolling the streets their operation was aborted."

"What does Jozy plan to do now?"

"You didn't here?" Ruby asked.

Weiss shook her head, "No, we were part of the advanced team that went into the forest and cleared it before we moved here."

"Well, that makes sense. Jozy has planned a full scale assault on the city."

"Really? I thought that option carried the most risk of any other."

"It does, but the Huntsmen and Huntress problem closes all other avenues of approach. Plus regular soldiers aren't equipped to kill a Huntsmen or huntress." Ruby said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right; but where are you coming in?" Weiss asked, fear growing in the back of her mind.

"I'm with the leadership and everybody's going, even Liz. We're tasked with either disabling or destroying Huntsmen teams." Ruby said.

Weiss felt her heart drop a little.

"Ruby, I want you to promise me that you'll come back." she said, grabbing Ruby's hand.

"I wasn't thinking of not coming back." Ruby responded, squeezing her hand.

"Good, because if you don't I kill you." Weiss said, not caring about the illogical statement.

"I understand." Ruby said.

"Good." Weiss responded, standing up from the table.

"We have 30 minutes you should probably get going while I take a shower." Weiss said, whilst pulling Ruby up from her chair.

She gave Ruby a light kiss, "I love you."

"You too." Ruby said, whilst leaving their tent.

Ruby knew in that moment that she had to come back alive, because she knew that losing meant losing Weiss.

A mere 30 minutes later Ruby and the rest of the Sequoia Tree's leadership were flying over Vale amid heavy gunfire. Below them the city's perimeter had been breached and there was open fighting in Vale's streets. The pilot took the Bullhead into a steep dive and broke through a thick cloud of black smoke. The cloud itself was the product of a solid majority of the city being on fire from airstrikes. The dive had put them below the current view of Vale's AA guns, which allowed for them to be dropped off.

"Okay guys let's go!" Jozy said, putting his mask on and jumping out of the airship.

All of them followed suit with Ruby being the last one to jump. As she fell she could hear Saffeara laugh as she fell.

Ruby saw the ground approaching rapidly; and readied herself to land. She impacted the asphalt with such a force that it cracked. Jozy, Kale,Tyler, Liz and Saffeara all landed in the same way. The second they looked up they were immediately being fired on. In front of them were a force of around twenty Sequoia Tree soldiers pinned down by a platoon sized force of Atlysian Knights. Ruby and the rest of the leadership proceeded to walk towards the Sequoia Tree soldiers. The Dust rounds ricocheted off their armor and went into the ground. Jozy withdrew Dragon Razor and started swatting their rounds away from him and absorbing them into the sword.

He pushed his way passed the pinned soldiers and pointed Dragon Razor at the Atlysian Knights. He fired the sword and a giant blob of fire shot out of it and coated the ground in sticky napalm. It spread to the androids and the intense heat caused them to implode. The area was now quiet; and allowed the Sequoia Tree soldiers the freedom to move again. One moved over to Jozy and saluted him.

"Captain James Harding, 5th mechanized division. I'm glad to see you, sir, those robots were kicking our ass." He introduced.

"Your welcome, Captain, what's the situation in the city?" Jozy asked.

"The city is crawling with Atlysian knights not to mention that the SF are everywhere too." Captain Harding reported.

"What about the civilians?" Jozy asked next.

The captain looked at the ground for a moment, "I'm sorry, but the only ones we've found were frozen to death, Apparently. Atlysian soldiers kicked them out in order to fortify their houses, sir."

Ruby's grip around Black Feather tightened.

"I see. Well there is nothing more we can do for them now." Jozy said, turning to his teammates.

"Saffeara, go south and spearhead, Magenta's forces." he said.

Saffeara nodded, pulled her hood up; and proceeded to jump onto a roof top and left.

"Ruby, get to Beacon."

Ruby nodded, and sped off. A flurry of rose petals were left in her wake.

"Kale, Liz, and Tyler find me a secure root to Amity Colosseum."

"What about you?" Liz questioned.

"I'm going to take these men here and we're going to hunt down Team CFVY." Jozy replied.

"I understand." Liz said.

With that the three of them walked off and left Jozy.

"Do you think that he'll be okay?" Tyler asked.

"He'll be fine. Besides he's stronger than Coco and Yatsuhashi combined." Liz said.

Kale signed out several words in agreement with Liz, which helped convince Tyler. The three of them pushed through the charred remains of the dead robots and proceeded towards the city center.

Meanwhile Ruby was on her own. After she left she found that the main road to Beacon was disserted. There weren't even any signs of homeless refugees occupying the nearby alleyways. To top it all off this area was covered by a thick grey cloud of ash and dust that acted almost like a fog; and reduced visibility marginally.

Ruby walked down the center of the street and couldn't help but feel an eerie sense of loneliness as her boots broke the glass that now covered the street. The sound it made echoed through the barren landscape and gave Ruby some idea as to how far the buildings were and how far she had yet to go.

As she walked she noticed that one of the alleyways had something white in it. She moved over to its entrance and her breath caught in her throat. Inside were a bunch of half-frozen civilians that were all foaming from the mouth and were apparently having some sort of seizure. Ruby sprung into action and started checking over the first one, however something was very wrong. ruby couldn't sense and aura emanating from this person at all. This was very alarming to Ruby so she took her glove off and did something she had never done before. She placed her hand on the man's head and tried to search for his soul. Ruby was thrown back to the opposite wall, her hand looked as though there were steam emanating off of it. Ruby put her head in her hands as she slipped down into a sitting position. " _All these people had their souls stolen, and then were left to die like animals."_ Ruby thought. Ruby knew what she had to do, but the one question was whether or not she could bring herself to do it. She shakily stood herself up and withdrew Black Feather. She went the first one and killed him; and then the second; the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth; and then the seventh was the one she hesitated on. It was a kid who couldn't have been more than seven. He had curly red hair and blue eyes that had tears streaming out of them as he convulsed. Ruby covered her eye, but couldn't cover her ears from the child's last shrieks. Ruby felt drunk as she stumbled back towards the road. When she made it to the entrance she lent to the wall on her right and pushed her mask down. She wiped her eyes, and held her hand there for a few moments before wiping her eyes again and putting her mask back in its place.

Ruby walked out onto the road again, and withdrew her scroll. She started typing out a message to Jozy. The world around her was mute; like a forest covered with fresh snow. Ruby finished the message and sent it, however it was in that moment that a shot rang out. A high impact Dust round destroyed her scroll and her fingers. Ruby looked at the gruesome sight that was her hand. Luckily her semblance started to repair her fingers almost immediately. Ruby looked in the direction of the shot and what she saw made her want to cry. On the rooftop to her right sat Phyrra looking at her through the optics on her rifle. Ruby looked to the rooftop on her left and noticed that Nora was up there. Ruby could feel the crosshairs burning on her head; she willed herself not to cry. She heard two pairs of footsteps approaching her. She turned towards the noise her eyes filled with a mixture of remorse and low moral. Jaune and Ren appeared out of the fog and stopped a few feet away from Ruby. The three of them stood there staring each other down.

"May I pass?" Ruby asked; her voice a heavy monotone under her mask.

"No you may not, Ruby." Jaune said, brandishing Crocea Mors.

"Jaune, I really don't wish to fight you."

Ren moved forward a bit, "Then why did you invade the city?"

"My fight's with Atlas not you. If you surrender now I will ensure that you are kept safe." Ruby said, not wavering in the slightest.

"No, way in hell! We saw what you did to those civilians in that alley. IT. WAS. BARBARIC." Jaune said.

Ruby didn't even flinch, however, only she could notice her already clenched fists becoming tighter.

"Jaune, calm down! Ruby stop this before you do something you'll regret!" Phyrra yelled down.

"Don't make me fight you, Jaune." Ruby said.

"Sorry Ruby, but if you won't surrender that's what it comes too." Jaune responded, putting his shield in front of him.

Ruby closed her eyes. " _I don't even know why I tried. This world is a fucking joke. That loves kill all happiness."_ she thought.

"Fine." Ruby said, before initiating her semblance.

She boosted forward and ended up on Jaune's left side. The scene went in slow motion as she watched her boot impact Jaune's right cheek as he turned in panic. The force of her kick sent him flying back a few feet. jaune was left reeling on the ground.

"I want kill you, Jaune. I'm not a murderer." she said; blocking Ren's strikes.

She then turned and broke Ren's guard, before kneeing him with enough force for him to cough blood. He slumped to the ground and writhed in pain as his aura tried to heal him.

"REN!" Nora yelled, before opening Magnhild and firing all six of her grenades.

Phyrra saw Nora fire and decided now was probably the best time to fire at Ruby. She fired several shots all aimed at Ruby's head.

Ruby saw that she had fire coming from both sides and did several cartwheels to get out of the way. Pink smoke enveloped the area that she used to be in and made the air crackle with static electricity.

"I don't want to fight you, Please don't make me hurt you." Ruby said, losing her composure a bit.

This plea fell on deaf ears, however. Nora was the first to jump off of her roof and made a beeline towards Ruby. Phyrra was soon to follow. Nora made it there first and brought Magnhild down hard on Ruby's position. She swung it with such speed that Ruby didn't even recognize it to be Nora for a moment. She quickly dodged the hammer, but had to keep backing up in order to not get struck by what would surely be a devastating blow. Phyrra noticed that Ruby was in a predicament, however, and quickly took aim. She shot Ruby in the ankle which prevented her from moving, Ruby was then struck in the chest by Magnhild. The strike broke most of her ribs, and left her gasping for air on the ground. her ribs started to heal as she stood up, but just as she did Phyrra jumped in front of her and slashed an "x" pattern on her chest. Her short sword went through Ruby's reflex armor like butter. " _So that's what this armor's weakness is."_ Ruby thought as she struggled on one knee. Her armor was open and vulnerable, she was bleeding profusely despite her primal semblances best efforts. This left Ruby with a very big dilemma. " _If I don't do something soon I'll die."_ she thought. Ruby looked down at Black Feather still in its sheath and let out a sigh. As Phyrra and Nora got closer she undid the belts and velcro holding her mask on. She slowly slipped the half mask off and let it fall to the ground. Phyrra and Nora were almost on top of her now and could plainly see that Ruby was crying.

"Ruby stop this you can't win." Phyrra said; moving closer to her.

"Your wrong, Phyrra, I can win. It's just I wish I didn't have to hurt you to do it, sorry Phyrra." Ruby said.

In a flash, Ruby, lept up and unsheathed Black Feather. " _No way. She shouldn't be able to move with the damage she sustained."_ Phyrra thought in utter shock. Seconds later she felt herself getting stabbed by Black Feather. Ruby stabbed her in the stomach, but made sure not to kill her.

"Phyrra!" Nora yelled.

Ruby withdrew Black Feather and slashed Nora's bicep. She then started to work over Nora. She ran around her opponent with speed that made her look to be teleporting. Unfortunately, for Nora there was no way she could defend herself from Ruby as the red-white haired girl started cutting her arms; specifically to cut her muscles and leave her arms limp.

"I'm sorry, Nora, but if you refuse to put Magnhild down I'll have to force you to put it down." Ruby said.

Nora was helpless. She couldn't match Ruby's speed and she couldn't hold Magnhild anymore. She dropped to her knees as her arms went limp; Magnhild rolled down her legs and onto the ground with a heavy metallic thud. Her arms were bleeding so bad that her skin was turned red.

"Why did you fight me? You couldn't win and you can't stop the Sequoia Tree." Ruby asked.

Nora turned towards Ruby, anger filling her eyes. However, before she could say anything Phyrra spoke.

"Don't Nora. In our condition we can't fight her; especially you."

Nora grit her teeth before letting her body slump down succumbing to a mixture of blood loss and realization of her defeat.

"Even if you did beat me the Wolf would have just killed you later." Ruby said.

Suddenly Ruby was stabbed from behind by Jaune. He had regained consciousness and stabbed her through her right shoulder blade. Ruby yelled in pain and kicked Jaune away from her. This action sent Jaune back and also removed Crocea Mors from Ruby's body. Ruby turned around breathing heavily from the pain.

"Ruby I sent Team CRDL after this 'wolf' they'll be there within minutes." Jaune said.

Ruby's eyes went wide before she put her head down, "Jaune do you have any idea what the Wolf is? Do you have idea what you've done? You just killed team CRDL!" Ruby said, picking up Black Feather off the ground.

"Ruby, CRDL is more than equipped to deal with her. Now if you please surrender we can guarantee your safety." Jaune said.

Ruby squinted her eyes, "Why do you want to make me a murderer, Jaune?"

"Because, this world sucks. Truthfully, we didn't want to fight you either so let this end right here, right now." he said, tossing his shield away.

He put two hands on his sword and waited for Ruby to make the next move.

Tears ran down Ruby's face once again. " _This world really is a fucking joke isn't it?"_ she thought. She hefted Black Feather in her hand; and looked at Jaune. His crystal blue eyes met her steel gray ones and each saw something different inside of them. Ruby saw the soul of a friend who took duty to his core; and Jaune saw the eyes of a small girl who had lost everything in the blink of an eye. A bloody tear ran down her face, which caught Jaune by surprise.

"If it matters at all I spared your child." Ruby said.

Jaune's eyes got wider and looked at Phyrra. She looked up at him and nodded. A smirk broke out across his face as he closed his eyes. Ruby closed her eyes as well and bit one of her fingers causing blood to run down her chin. Both let out a loud scream as they ran at each other swords poised to strike each other down. They clashed in a blinding flash. Ruby ended up on Jaune's side and Jaune ended up on her side. Both stood there for a moment before Jaune fell forward, Black Feather planted firmly in his chest. He was dead, there was no way he couldn't be dead. Ruby was still standing, but soon fell to her knees. Crocea Mors had slashed through her right and left a giant gash. She fell forward before crawling off and disappearing in the fog.

Phyrra got up and limped over to Jaune. She fell to her knees in front of his body and just cried. Snowflakes started to fall as she cried. It was in that land of "White Silence" that Team JNPR ceased to be Team JNPR.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: So here we go with the last chapter in this story arc. I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry for how late this chapter is; but I got a terrible migraine that lasted for like three days straight and I barely was able to write anything at all. So I hope you guys understand that and I also wanted to mention that next chapter will be the beginning of the final story arc. So I hope that you guys favorite, follow, and review it really helps out the story. See you guys later stay classy:)**

"The Revenant"

Ruby found her way to a nearby alleyway that was located a few yards away from where the fight with JNPR took place. As she walked she was trying with all her might to stop the bleeding on her right side; but it just wouldn't stop. She walked a few more steps until she could stand anymore. She braced herself on the wall to her right and slid down; leaving a streak of blood on the wall. Ruby was now in a sitting position and started crying once again as she realized what she did. " _I killed him. I killed Jaune."_ She thought, putting her head into her hands.

"Isn't it a great feeling, Ruby? To have the blood of the innocent on your hands." A voice asked.

Ruby jerked her head up and started shaking. She was back in the chair that she was tortured in. This time her hands were behind her back bound with chain. Around her the previously orange flowers were now black and appeared to drip blood. The mirrors that had been broken before were now back and their number had been multiplied by the tenth power.

She heard footsteps in front of her and turned towards them. In front of her stood the white haired version of Jozy, however something was majorly wrong. His skin was dried up and was falling off at a rapid rate. Beneath that skin was a black humanoid creature that had a white aura around him. He had one golden, glowing eye that was staring intently at Ruby.

"Who are you?" Ruby choked out.

"Oh right, I guess you would recognize me without that disgusting human filth on would you. I am the Seeker." he replied.

Ruby was about to respond, but was unable to since Seeker disappeared and reappeared right next to her. He grabbed her head and started to yank it every which way.

"I'm the one who gave everyone their Primal Semblances; and I am ashamed that it took you so long to figure out what you needed to do to get the full power of your semblance. Yes, Ruby, your semblance isn't to kill the bad guy it's to kill the good guy."

Ruby screamed in pain as he started to squeeze her head harder.

"Now, unfortunately, I have a schedule to keep. So I'll be taking control over your semblance for a while." he said, pulling his hands off of her head.

Electricity started to crackle around his hand. He then grabbed Ruby's head again and the room went dark.

In the real world Ruby was unconscious until her left eye opened glowing like the sun. Her right eye remained closed as if she was asleep. She stood up and cracked her fingers.

"It feels so good to be back." Seeker said.

He stood there for a second and in that time a black and purple mask grew on Ruby's face. It covered her one closed eye and formed itself around the open one. It was completely organic and formed around her nose and lengthened itself down into a long hook-like nose. On her right hand her fingers, that were not covered from her glove being blown apart when her scroll was shot, grew long Grimm-bone claws that were razor sharp. The open wounds healed up in seconds.

"That feels better. So Ruby here's what we're going to do I"m going to kill Ironwood using your face, and then I'm going to slaughter Beacon, then to top it all off we're going to slaughter the Sequoia Tree. Plus I also thought it would be nice to fillet the tiny amount of meat off of Weiss' bones." he said.

Ruby was still sitting in the chair completely paralysed; and crying profusely.

"Don't you lay a finger on her." Ruby said.

"Awe, what are you going to do about it?" Seeker taunted her.

Ruby was trapped there was no way that she could do anything. She stayed quiet. A sadistic smile broke out across Seeker's face as her walked out of the alleyway and towards Amity Colosseum.

A mile away, Jozy, was watching the Sequoia Tree load Team CFVY into a prisoner transport. He was standing there bracing himself on Dragon Razor when he heard a voice. It wasn't a loud voice, but a familiar, pleasant voice. He turned around and found that the voice appeared to be coming from a small courtyard. He walked over and when he entered a glowing white cloak stood in front of him. It then dematerialized into a large cloud of white rose petal.

Jozy looked to ground and muttered, "Summer."

"Still hallucinating Summer, Jozy?" a male voice asked.

Jozy turned on his heel and readied Dragon Razor. He watched as the unknown man walked out of the shadow of a collapsed building.

"Should have known you would be here you dusty old Qrow. Have you come to stop me?" Jozy asked.

"No, I'm not. I figured you've killed enough of your friends already." Qrow replied.

Jozy returned Dragon Razor to its sheath inside of his duffle coat, "You couldn't be anymore right. So why are you here?"

"Where is Ruby? Tiayang and I know you have her in your military." Qrow asked.

"What do you intend to do with Ruby?" Jozy countered.

Qrow took a drink from his flask, "We just want to talk to her; nothing; nothing more, nothing less."

Jozy nodded, "I understand, but unfortunately I have no idea where she is. The last message I received from her was 20 minutes ago and since then I haven't heard a thing."

"You're kidding right?" Qrow asked.

Jozy shook his head, "I'm not and now I'm hallucinating Summer again; which only means terrible news."

"So where do you think she is?"Qrow asked.

"I don't know, but I have a idea of what could have happened." Jozy said.

Qrow stood there waiting for Jozy to continue.

Jozy got a confused expression, "Just because I have an idea does not mean I'm going to tell you."

Qrow closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Somethings never change, but what are you going to do about the Grimm when they attack the city?" he asked, whilst turning away from Jozy.

"Kill them all." Jozy said; turning away.

If it was anybody else Qrow would have called them out for being overly arrogant. However, he had heard the stories and had seen Jozy in action; if there was one person who could defeat an army of Grimm it would be him. Qrow disappeared behind a building intent on telling Tiayang the news. Jozy left the area and motioned for one of his soldiers to come over to him.

"Yes sir?" the soldier asked.

"What's your name?"

"Uh, Sergeant Greene sir."

"Greene, get a message to Commander Magnolia. Tell her to fetch to the Wolf." Jozy commanded.

"Yes, sir!" Sergeant Greene said, running off.

Jozy looked up to Amity Colosseum. " _I'm sick of dreaming. I want to wake up again, Summer."_ He thought.

Team CRDL walked through the snowy streets where the Atlysians were reporting sittings of the "Wolf". Cardin had his own misgivings about his assigned mission. He had heard more stories of the Wolf than anybody in his team.

"So I heard that this 'Wolf' has like the biggest tits so I was thinking that before we kill her we could have some fun with her first." Russel said; a obsessed look on his face.

"Dude are you serious? That would be amazing." Dove responded; copying Russel's excitement.

"What do you think, Cardin?" Russel asked.

"Stop you guys. I think she's a cannibal and I don't feel like getting my dick bit off." Cardin responded.

"You're kidding, I guess we'll just kill her after all then." Russel said.

Suddenly they heard a loud scream coming from a nearby street. All four of them took off at a full sprint and rounded the corner in seconds. What they saw next would send shivers down the spine of anybody who cared enough to look up this incident. Sitting on a pile of dead bodies was a woman who appeared to be in her early thirties and was currently gnawing on the head of an Atlysian soldier. The soldiers below her covered in a mixture of blood and bile. The one on the very bottom had his intestines lying on the ground beside him… he was still alive. Saffeara stopped eating and stood up. She jumped down and crushed the soldier's head with her foot.

Cardin felt himself getting sick, but he resisted the urge to vomit. However, the same could not be said for Russel who threw up his lunch on the spot. Saffeara jerked her head up when she heard the man heave. She immediately saw Team CRDL standing there and started giggling with a bright, blood-soaked grin. Cardin readied his mace for whatever attack she would start out with. The rest of his team did as well, although they felt very uneasy.

"I wondered who they would send after me, but I never would have guessed it would be a racist prick and a bunch of nobodies." Saffeara said, putting her hands behind her back.

"What did you say, bitch?" Russel said, agitated by her words.

"Russel don't." Cardin muttered.

"Oh, what's this? We have a feisty one here." Saffeara said; starting to pace back and forth with a playful smile on her face.

She stopped lining herself up perfectly with Russel, "Come on then you get the first hit."

A smile broke out on Russel's face as he flipped his daggers over to a stabbing position. He ran and jumped at her. His daggers came down on her shoulders sending black blood sailing into the air. He then stabbed her in the stomach and waited for her face to start contorting into despair, however that expression never came. A small smile grew on Saffeara's face as Russel realized, in horror, that his attack had no effect on her.

"You're going to have to do better than that." Saffeara said; grabbing Russel's chin.

With lightning speed she ripped Russel's head from his neck.

"However, you'll never get the chance." Saffeara said; playing with the dismembered head in her hands.

"RUSSEL!" Dove yelled, running towards Saffeara.

Cardin tried to stop him, "Dove wait!"

It was too late. Saffeara withdrew one of Russel's daggers and threw it at him. The dagger imbedded itself in his ankle causing him to the snowy ground. He got up one one knee just in time for the other dagger to slice through his shoulder. It severed his muscle causing him to drop his sword to the ground.

Saffeara put her eared hood up with an unamused look on her face. She walked up to Dove and placed her hand on his head as he walked by.

"You're a fucking moron." she said; twisting her hand.

The force turned Dove's head a full 180 degrees; breaking his neck with a loud snap. His lifeless body fell to the ground as Saffeara walked towards Sky and Cardin. Cardin grit his teeth and looked over at Sky. He was shaking in his armor and a yellow stream of liquid was forming a puddle beneath him. Saffeara noticed this and started giggling like a kid.

"You really pissed yourself? Am I really _that_ scary?" Saffeara asked.

Sky was too horrified to answer and clutched his weapon even harder; even though his knuckles had already turned white. A small, amused smile grew on Saffeara's face before she appeared inches away from Sky. She had moved so fast that Cardin had initially thought she teleported.

"Am I really that scary?" she asked; focusing on him with her one red eye.

Sky froze unable to answer her question. Saffeara's expression changed to one that looked slightly frustrated.

"Well Cardin, since your friend here can't speak I guess he won't be needing these." Saffeara said; walking over to Cardin.

She held out her hands and opened them revealing the pieces to a rib cage. Cardin's eyes went wide as he looked over at Sky. Sky looked down and was horrified to find that his chest had been ripped open and he could see his heart beating. He suddenly coughed blood and fell to the ground. " _What the hell is this? I didn't even hear her break his bones!_ " Cardin thought.

Saffeara moved closer to him. Cardin put his mace between him and her intending to put as much distance between himself and her. Saffeara chuckled at this.

"What are you going to do, Cardin? Will you lay down and die like the other three pigs?" she asked; her droopy ears blowing in a sudden gust of wind.

Cardin looked at his now dead team; and saw only one outcome of this situation if he didn't choose wisely. He put his mace out to his right side and dropped it to the ground.

Saffeara's smile grew bigger, "Oh? Are you giving up?"

Cardin fell to his knees in front of her. Saffeara knew she had won and stepped over to him; placing her hands on either side of his face.

"You know, Cardin, you are the smartest person of your team and that's why I'm not going to kill you." She said.

Cardin looked up at her in confusion.

"I'm going to make you into something more… my second puppet." She said; jabbing her thumbs into his eyes.

Cardin yelled out in pain as he lost the ability to see.

"YES! Scream for me; I'm going to turn you into my most prized possession!" Saffeara exclaimed.

However, before Saffeara's torture could continue it was interrupted.

"Cardin get down!" a male voice yelled.

Saffeara removed her thumbs and turned towards the familiar voice. Above her was Professor Oobleck, who was preparing to club her with his weapon. Saffeara withdrew her claws and was about to dodge out of the way, but was surprised when Cardin grabbed her and held her in place. Oobleck hit her hard enough to crack her skull open in one hit; sending Saffeara down to the ground in record time. He then pulled Cardin away from her.

"Cardin, are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine I just can't see." Cardin replied.

"Well that's to be expected." Oobleck said; stating the obvious.

Suddenly they heard an electric crackle coming towards them. They turned and saw a yellow orb of electricity coming towards them at break neck speeds. Both Oobleck and Cardin tried to dodge the high velocity plasma; but Saffeara had other plans.

She had been playing dead; and jumped up and embedded her claws into Cardin's stomach. This held him in place while she kicked Oobleck in the stomach sending him flying across the street. Saffeara looked up at Cardin with a smile of pure bliss as the ball of energy hit him. He let out a great scream as the energy ball turned him into a pillar of ash. The area fell quiet as Saffeara stood up and removed her hand. When she did this Cardin became an ash pile on the ground. Saffeara looked at her hand as a pair of heavy footsteps made their way over to her. She looked up and what she saw made a soft smile appear on her face.

Commander Magnolia was walking towards her with Evercaster's blade smoking from its recent discharge. She stopped a few feet away from Saffeara and put her left hand on her hip.

"You couldn't stand not almost getting killed, could you?" Magnolia asked.

"Oh come on, Maggy, you know that a huntsman can't kill me. Why are you here?" Saffeara asked.

"I got a message from Mannequin. We're converging on Amity Colosseum." Magnolia said; returning Evercaster to its sheath.

Saffeara gave no reply she just put her hands behind her back and looked up into the sky, towards Amity Colosseum.

"It's Ruby isn't it?" she asked.

Magnolia took a step closer, "I don't know; but from the sound of it, it's nothing good."

Saffeara nodded and then heard a scraping sound off to her left. She turned her head and saw that Oobleck had regained consciousness and was trying to crawl away. Magnolia reached for Evercaster; but Saffeara stopped her.

"Maggy, when we win this battle and free Vale we'll set our sights on Atlas; and we'll need every ally we can get." Saffeara said; returning her hood to its place over her head.

Magnolia knew what she meant and started to walk off.

"I'll wait for you." she said.

Saffeara was now alone and free to execute her plan. She looked at the bodies of team CRDL, excluding Cardin, and raised her hand. Like a magnet their semblances were attracted to her hand and from there were absorbed into her body. She then jumped to a nearby rooftop and proceeded to follow Oobleck.

Oobleck had crawled his way down a nearby alleyway and braced himself up against the right wall. He had several broken ribs and a concussion; but other than that he was okay. However, questions still echoed in his head as to how exactly Saffeara got to be that strong and why is she presumably unkillable. He stood up, deciding he had let his wounds heal enough, and proceeded further down the alleyway. At its end he found himself in the middle of an old abandoned apartment block was surrounding a central courtyard. Oobleck made his way through one of the old archways and started to investigate the courtyard.

In its center was a large stone water fountain that appeared to be the focal point of the courtyard. The grassy areas had been overgrown with a special type of rose that Oobleck had never seen before. He made note of how they were still alive even though it was the middle of December.

"You look intrigued, Bartholomew Oobleck." a high pitched, childlike voice said.

Oobleck jerked his head up to see Saffeara standing atop the fountain.

"But I suppose that is your thing after all. You always did have a knack for studying things at the most in opportune times." Saffeara said; jumping down from the fountain.

Oobleck backed away slowly; aware that he no longer had his weapon. To make matters worse his glasses were broken and he couldn't see that well.

"Scared Oobleck? I think you are, in fact I think that you are terrified." Saffeara said, moving closer to him.

"No, I was just getting you in range." Oobleck said.

With that Oobleck started swinging. Saffeara had a blissful smile on her face as she dodged Oobleck's pitiful punches. Oobleck soon became frustrated and decided to perform a move that only a few Huntsmen knew.

He did a handstand and flipped intending to hit Saffeara in the head with his foot.

"I was waiting for that." Saffeara said, softly.

She took a big back step and caught his foot as it came down. In one motion she swung him around and threw him into the fountain shattering it to pieces. Oobleck was now bleeding from several different places as he tried to get up, however Saffeara stopped him with her foot. He yelled as Saffeara's foot pressed down on his broken ribs.

Saffara started laughing, "Come on Huntsman aren't you here to protect the people?"

Saffeara grabbed his arm.

"Oh, wait I forgot you let a tyrannical maniac take control of the most free kingdom in Remnant! So how then Oobleck can you say, 'I want to protect the people.'?" Saffeara asked; ripping his arm off.

She hit him with it sending him flying. He landed in a patch of Sorrow Roses that did not open to his touch. When Saffeara grabbed his head, however, the roses opened to be a full bloom. She got another wicked smile on her face as she lifted the larger man off the ground by his head.

"You want to learn more don't you? You want to become the thing that protects the others, but you can't even understand why you can't kill me." she said, dropping him to the ground.

Oobleck fell to his knees exhausted and bleeding out. He looked up to Saffeara with lethargic eyes.

"What do you want from me?" he asked.

Saffeara grasped his cheek, "My puppet is dead; and I need a replacement. I will become your master. I will become your reason to live. I will become your _god._ "

Oobleck's eyes widened for a second; before closing. He had accepted his fate. Saffeara knocked him out yet again and drug him out of the apartment block; humming "Red like roses."

Amity Colosseum was becoming the focal point of the battle and Cinder could feel it. All around her Atlysian soldiers and scientists were busily attaching cords to Penny, that would eventually send her the auras of the refugees they had harvested. Cinder kept taping her fingers on her arm anxiously. " _That bastard Ironwood said 'this would be quick.' but apparently his version of quick is a lot different than my own."_ Cinder thought as watched the men continue to work on Penny. An hour ago she had sent Mercury to defend the main access point of the colosseum. She told him to be ready in five minutes at the time and now they were 55 minutes late.

"Cinder, their ready to start." Emerald said.

"Then have them do it. We're running out of time." Cinder said walking off.

At the very top of the stands, Hikari was watching the commotion down below from the sky box. She was wearing a black athletic shirt that had white lines on it. Her pants were a pair of black skinny jeans that had their lower legs covered by a pair of dark brown, knee high boots. Her shirt was tucked into her jeans that were secured by a black belt that had a white half-skirt on the back of it. To finish it off she had her two katanas, Crystal Cutter and Diamond Cutter, sheathed on her back.

She had been leaning up against a metal support beam for the last 20 minutes daydreaming. She suddenly heard the sounds of footsteps coming toward her. She turned her head at such a speed that it kind of spooked the person coming towards her. Luckily the person was used to it.

"You know if you keep leaning against that pole it'll bend." he said.

Hikari gave him her full attention. His name was Mark Gale and he formed the "M" in team HHRM. He had long scraggly black hair and bright green eyes. He was a dork and felt that every girl he ever met was automatically into him; this is included Hikari. However, he treat her with more respect than other girls; because deep down he was scared of her and Hikari was fine with that.

"Are you saying I'm fat?" she asked; shooting him a death glare.

"You know what I meant." he said; standing beside her.

Both of them stayed silent for moment and watched as they started charging Penny's aura.

"Do you think this aura thing will even work? I mean they used the auras of civilians it just doesn't seem right." Mark said; crossing his arms.

Hikari grit her teeth, "It will work which is the worst part."

"How do you know? You're not really an expert in semblances and I don't even think the 'experts' know if this is possible." Mark countered.

"Maybe I am and I just never told you." Hikari said.

Mark took a step back, his arms still crossed.

"Okay, Hikari, I'll bite where in Remnant did you even come from? See it's kind of strange when your team leader won't tell you where she's from or how she has enough combat experience to defeat a third year team single handedly." Mark asked.

Hikari turned away from him and let her white bangs cover her eyes.

"Do you really want to know, Mark?"

Mark almost fell over. Never in a million years did he ever think she would tell him this story.

"Yes, I do." he finally said.

Hikari took a breath, "I was born in Vale to a huntsman and huntress who were some of the best. When I was ten years old I was kidnapped and my mom and dad disappeared trying to save me. I was wounded in that fight, but survived and was placed into Vale's adoption service. A year later I was adopted by a family in Vacuo and lived with them for six years. Five months ago they were murdered by a gang that had set itself up in our neighborhood and wanted to use them as an 'example'. I was the only one who wasn't killed because I just so happened to have to be working that night. After that I was left on the streets and I had to learn how to fight and steal to survive. Then I bought myself a ticket to Vale and never looked back."

Mark took a moment to process the plethora of information he had just been given.

"Fair enough, but why did you enlist in Beacon? You could have had a normal life or at least tried to build a better one." Mark asked.

"I know I could have. but there are loose ends that I need to tie up." she replied.

"What kinds of loose ends, Hikari?" he asked.

Hikari was becoming frustrated, "You don't need to now; and stop calling me that it's not even my real name."

Mark sat there unable to comprehend what Hikari had just said. Hikari turned away from him and started to walk down the hall.

"Mark if you want to live through this, then get out of this city. When you see Harem and Riga tell them the same." Hikari said; opening a large metal door.

"What? Are you nuts?!" he yelled.

Hikari withdrew Diamond Cutter and pointed it at him, "If you try to follow me, I'll kill you."

Amity Colosseum suddenly shook with a loud explosion. Both of them looked down onto the field and saw that Penny had broken free of her restraints and was surrounded by a glowing red mist.

"And so it begins." Hikari muttered.


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: I'm back and I have awesome news. So I have agreed to collaborate with jin0uga, and The Grinning Psychopath on their work "Grimm Awakening" so go favorite and follow that story so that you get to see more of my writing, more frequently. Lastly just wanted to say that I love you guys so much and that I hope you had a lovely thanksgiving. See you later guys;)**

 _Fact: When Saffeara got transformed her height dropped from 5'9" to 5"4"._

"The Forbidden Semblance"

When humanity's first victories against the grimm were categorized and recorded the god that had made Remnant took notice and deemed humanity worthy of survival. Thus he created the "semblance" that humanity's warriors could use to better themselves against the forces of the darkness.

As a counterbalance he created six semblances that could command and overpower the other semblances in case of a revolt. Their power was leveled by the rank they were given. First was the Beast that would represent the Faunus, second was the Shade who represented the things that could not be scene, third was the Master who represented the knowledge of space and time, fourth was the Revenant who would represent the forces of Grimm, fifth was the Archangel who represented Heaven itself, and lastly the Forbidden was made specifically to rule over these "Primal semblances".

Peace consumed Remnant; but it soon came to an end when the Revenant rebelled against the Forbidden and waged a global war that killed off ⅔ of the human populus. The Forbidden could not kill the Revenant, but instead locked him away for approximately 100 years. After that 100 years the Forbidden's human host died and left the Forbidden alone until he found a new human host. When he did find a new host it was a man filled with great anger and hatred over the great war that stole away humanity's peace. He abused the Forbidden's power to take over the minds of the other Primal Semblances and wage war on Heaven and God himself. Stricken with great grief God created a seventh Primal Semblance that could defeat the human hosts of the semblances and save his children. The battle was bloody but the 7th eventually had the other six semblances in his possession that which he entrusted to his son who was called, Seeker. He charged him with distributing these semblances when history was deemed to repeat itself. Fast forward 200 hundred years and the Remnant that was created by that battle still exists as a cold dark shell of what once was.

Jozy sat inside the empty bay of a Bullhead that had picked him up. He was on his way to meet Liz and the others at the airship station just below Amity Colosseum. he looked at his hands intently as he felt his black fingernails burning.

"ETA 30 seconds!" The pilot yelled over the intercom.

Jozy stood up and opened the sliding bay door. He was greeted by a huge gust of air as the Bullhead slowed its air speed. Down below he could see over 30,000 red maroon cloaks spread throughout the city, all belonging to the Sequoia Tree. The bullhead started to descend and before he knew it, he was on the ground. He stepped off the Bullhead, his black duffel coat blowing behind him as he did. The Bullhead took off as soon as he stepped off. Jozy looked up and saw that Magnolia was walking towards him. At first look it would appear that she was unarmed, but Jozy knew better. He listened and could faintly hear the sound of Evercaster's sheath clacking underneath her officers trench coat. " _Smart aren't you, Magneta."_ he thought.

He walked towards her at a brisk pace.

"Commander, report." Jozy commanded.

"The city's 80% ours. The only thing that's left are a few hold outs that are being demolished by Saffeara's 5th Faunus army. The 4th Faunus army is occupying the coast." Magnolia said.

"What about Mistral?" Jozy asked.

Magnolia laughed a bit, "Those fly boys are so eager to shoot that levitating bastard down that I think they came in their pants while I was talking to them."

"Well tell them to stand down. I'm not leaving till I see for sure that Ironwood's dead with my own eyes." Jozy responded.

"Will do and just so you know Liz and the others are waiting next to the airships." Magnolia said; walking off.

Jozy looked over to where the airships were docked and noticed Liz's red and black hair almost immediately. As he walked over he quickly noticed the other members of the Sequoia Tree leadership and Team RWBY… " _Shit, how am I going to explain the Ruby situation to them."_ Jozy cursed in his mind. He continued to walk towards them and after a few more feet they noticed him.

"Welcome back, Jozy." Saffeara said; with a childlike voice.

"Nice, to see every one of you is still alive." Jozy said.

Weiss started to look around from her sitting position. When she didn't find who she was looking for she turned to Yang. Yang looked back at her with an equally confused look and then motioned towards Jozy with her eyes.

Weiss nodded, "Where's Ruby?"

"I don't know." Jozy said, rather bluntly.

Weiss felt herself go a whole other shade of pale; if that was possible.

Jozy then turned to the other leaders, "We kill Ironwood, then we look for Ruby. Understood?"

All of them nodded, and proceeded to board the first airship.

"Liz and I will be taking the second airship." Jozy said, grabbing her hand.

Everyone understood what he meant and started to board the airship. Saffeara was the last one to get in the airship. When she passed by Liz she sensed her aura, but there was something wrong. She turned towards Liz and looked her over.

"What?" Liz asked, a confused expression on her face.

"Oh, nothing my mind must be playing tricks on me." Saffeara said, giving Liz a reassuring smile.

Saffeara boarded the airship; and it took off. Jozy and Liz boarded another airship that was off to the left of the original.

The airships sped towards Amity Colosseum at a massive amount of speed.

"Has Liz seemed off to you guys?" Yang asked.

The Leadership turned towards Team RWBY.

"Why do you ask?' Tyler asked.

"Well, because her mind just seems elsewhere." Yang clarified.

This started a debate that involved the whole of Team RWBY and Tyler with Kale silently listening in. Saffeara was looking out the window, staring at the other airship. She could not figure out why Liz's aura appeared so strange to her so suddenly.

"Saffeara you listening?" Tyler asked.

Saffeara snapped out of her trance and turned to the others.

"Sorry, what?" she asked.

"We were asking you if you've noticed anything unusual about Liz ?" he asked again.

"Well, beside the fact that her aura seems to have increased; I don't think anything's wrong with her." Saffeara responded.

"What do you mean? Can something like that happen?" Weiss asked.

Saffeara put her hands up, "Calm down, Princess. I only sensed it for a second so there's a chance I misread it."

"Can that happen with all the enhancements you've had?" Blake asked.

"I'm still human, Blake." Saffeara clarified.

Suddenly Kale let out an audible gurgle that alerted the others. All of them watched as both airships docked in the hangar bay. They looked out the windows and found the place deserted. Kale took point as they exited the ship and met up with Jozy and Liz almost immediately. All around them the colosseum creaked with eerie silence.

"Okay, what gives? Aren't there supposed to be a ton of guards here?" Yang asked.

"Yeah, stay alert they could be anywhere." Blake replied.

Jozy's eyes darted around looking for any sign that somebody else was there. Liz gently touched his shoulder causing him to look back at her.

"What is it?" she asked, barely loud enough for him to hear her.

"Something's not right here a whole battalion was reported to be guarding this place along with a team of Beacon recruits." Jozy replied.

Liz looked around with a concerned expression.

"Proceed with caution?" Liz asked.

"Extreme caution." he added.

Liz nodded and withdrew her weapons. Jozy motioned with his head for everyone to follow her. Everyone withdrew their weapons and started to follow Liz through an automatic bulkhead. As they walked, Jozy, could feel Dragon Razor pulsing in his hand. " _Heh, even you are waking too old freind."_ Jozy thought; tightening his grip on the sword's hilt.

Suddenly a blast door shut in front of them and the wall to their left opened. They could see daylight streaming through the opening.

"Well if this isn't a trap I don't know what is." Tyler said.

Liz was about to go first, but Jozy stopped her. As he walked passed her, Liz, noticed a protective glimmer in this eyes. The only thing that was not covered by his mask. They started to slowly follow him into the white light that blinded them. They found themselves inside the arena. Jozy stepped forward a few steps and then turned around when he heard the force field activate behind him, trapping him. When Liz saw this she started running towards the arena.

"No!" Liz yelled, punching the barrier.

Her punched bounced off the barrier. The others ran over to Liz and looked at the barrier.

"That's a heavy Dust shield our weapons can't break it." Weiss said.

Liz's hands formed fists when she said this.

Inside the barrier, Jozy, would have described it as being inside of an upside down fishbowl since it formed a giant dome. The stage itself had been changed to a snow biome that was surprisingly warm.

"Welcome to Amity Colosseum, Mannequin. It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance." Ironwood said, over an intercom.

"Aww and you didn't bake me a cake?" Jozy asked; sarcastically.

"So you have jokes too. It doesn't matter you won't be leaving this place ever, Jozy Glass." he responded.

"Now that would have been intimidating if you were actually intimidating." Jozy said, putting his free hand on his hip.

"We'll see. Send her in." Ironwood commanded, before cutting the mic off with a loud, high pitched wail.

Jozy looked across the field as a large blast door opened. Penny stepped out from the darkness completely draped in a blood down red aura that changed her clothing to the same shade of red.

"Salutations!" she yelled; her green eyes void of any human characteristics.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Jozy said, putting Dragon Razor in front of him.

"Initiating primary order; kill the Mannequin." Penny said; her swords removing themselves from her back.

She then threw them at Jozy, who proceeded to dodge them. The swords were thrown at such a speed that they left clouds of dust and snow around them as the impacted. Jozy spun out of the way of the last one she threw and fired three flame orbs at her. They impacted her but appeared to do no damage. She jumped away from Jozy and shot three lasers at him; which he absorbed into Dragon Razor. Both of them stared at each other aware that they were equals in power.

"It would appear that we are equals in power, and it also appears that you are a user of Dust just like Mister Ironwood said." Penny stated, closing her eyes.

Jozy cocked an eyebrow wondering what she was doing.

She opened her eyes again, "Primal semblance activate Dust Conductor."

Jozy's eyes went wide in shock as Penny outstretched her hand and lifted him up into the air. He let out a gut wrenching cry as what appeared to be Dust powder was siphoned from his hair, eyes, fingernails and even his pours.

The black and green Dust on his hair started to get thin, revealing his real hair color which was a snowy white. It was only white on top which created a blend of black, green, and white. The red Dust that was in his eyes was removed more quickly than his hair and his black finger nails were completely gone. Suddenly he heard another door open and looked to Penny's right. To her right Cinder had emerged with fire charging around her hands. She put her hands together and fired a massive fireball at Jozy's paralysed form. Jozy was able to wrench Dragon Razor free and put it in front of him. The fireball hit him and sent him flying into a pile of rubble. Dragon Razor had saved his life, but in the process it was broken into three pieces. Jozy crawled out of the debris pile on his hands and knees. He was so winded he couldn't stand. His mask was broken and barely covered his face. From just a guess he figured that his right leg was broken along with a few of his ribs and his right wrist, the result of the impact with Dragon Razor. His head was then pushed to the ground by Cinder's glass heel.

"That was a lot easier than I expected. Looks like my glass can chew right through that Reflex Armor of yours." she said.

Liz sank down to her knees; her mouth covered by her hand as she cried. The rest of the leadership and Team RWBY were trying to break through the barrier using any means necessary. However, they weren't getting anywhere. Cinder picked up, Jozy, by his neck.

"Goodbye, Mannequin." she said; forming a fireball in hand.

The sound of glass breaking echoed throughout the dome and a black figure landed in between Cinder and Penny. In one motioned she switched one katana to its shotgun form and shot Penny in the face with it. The buckshot obliterated her right eye and ripped half her forehead and hair off, revealing the nuts and bolts underneath. She then shifted her focus to Cinder and severed her arm at the elbow causing her drop Jozy. Cinder screamed as she saw her arm fall to the ground. She was then kicked in the side with enough force to send her flying away from Jozy who was still falling. She quickly ran behind him and caught him before he could hit the ground. Blood was running down from his forehead and mouth. Hikari gingerly wiped some of the leftover Dust off of the white parts of Jozy's hair; a look of pity on her face.

"Hikari! What are you doing?!" Ironwood yelled over the intercom.

"I am protecting my father; Jozy Glass!" Hikari yelled holding him closer."And my name is ORCHID GLASS!"

"Penny kill her and kill the Mannequin we're out of time!" Ironwood shouted cutting off the intercom.

"Y-yesss, m-aster." Penny acknowledged, her voice box malfunctioning from how much damage she had taken.

She shakily stood and looked at Orchid with her one good eye. Orchid set Jozy down on the ground gently and stood to meet Penny. She switched Diamond Cutter to its shotgun form and put Crystal Cutter into a defensive position. Penny's strings had been broken so she had to grab two of her swords with her hands.

Penny then ran at Orchid. Seeing this she shot Diamond Cutter at Penny, however she dodged it. Orchid grit her teeth as she switched Diamond cutter back to its katana form. A flurry of sparks was the result of their swords clashing at extreme speed. Orchid took the opportunity, when Penny's swords got locked with one of hers, to stab her in the thigh with her free sword. Penny recoiled her head back when she felt the sword tear through her underling exoskeleton. She then slid her right sword off of Crystal Cutter and sliced down Orchid's chest. Orchid coughed blood before switching Crystal Cutter to a shotgun and blasting Penny in the chest with it. The pellets ripped the front plate of Penny's chest off and sent her flying backwards. Orchid collapsed to the ground clenching her chest. Luckily the slash was panicked so it didn't cut that deep. However, Orchid was winded and couldn't even stand. She grit her teeth as she watched Penny stand back up.

"Why won't you die, bitch!?" she yelled.

Penny stumbled forward, a red pulsing light in the center of her chest.

"I-I can-cannot dia. Is net in me,I,you parameatars." Penny said; her voice box so damaged it couldn't form words properly anymore.

A squad of Atlysian troops came from a door of to Penny's right; and pointed there guns at Orchid.

Meanwhile, Jozy was fighting a war inside of his mind. He was unconscious on the outside and looked very much dead.

"Why won't you accept me?" Forbidden asked.

Jozy stood in the middle of a very black room, "Because I can't control you."

"You would refuse the only way to save your daughter?"

"What guarantees that you won't make me hurt her after I save her. You already made me almost kill her all those years ago."

"Do not confuse me with that bastard child Seeker; he's the one who made you hurt her not I."

Jozy was getting angry, "Fair enough, but either way I can't go back if I do I have to face all those semblances I have absorbed within me."

Forbidden fell deathly silent and walked toward Jozy. He stopped when he was about five steps away from him.

"It still amazes me that you're still alive with the amount of fear inside of you." he said.

Jozy stared at him with defiance.

"Its because his memories have been taken by the seal the Seeker has bound you with, Forbidden." a female voice said, "I'm actually surprised he remembers who Orchid even is."

Both of them looked towards the voice and saw a woman in a white cloak materialize.

"What are you talking about, Summer?" Forbidden asked.

"I'm not surprised you couldn't tell after all you're sealed too." Summer replied.

"Fine, then what do I need to do to gain my memories back?" Jozy asked.

Summer moved over to Jozy and put her hand on his cheek, "Break the seal. You know how to do it and then everything will fall into place as it should."

Jozy closed his eyes. He reopened them and saw that there was a large red door in the room now. Summer put her arm on his back and started to lead him towards the door.

"Go, I can't guarantee you'll like everything you see; but in the end you'll cease to be the King of Fakes." Summer said, trying to reassure him.

"What will I be when I come out?" Jozy asked.

"Jozy Glass." was all that Summer said.

Jozy opened the door and entered a long hallway. The door shut and locked itself.

On the outside Jozy's fingernails started to turn black again only this time it was a strange black oily substance coating them. The Dust in his hair started to flake off and returned it back to its snow white color. His eyes slowly opened to reveal irises that were glowing neon yellow.

He sat up and ran his fingers through his hair, purposefully messing it up, "I remember everything, and now know what I must do."

He looked over to Orchid. " _I wish I could have seen you grow up. I wish you could have led a normal life, but it looks like I'll have to live with what I've got now."_

Suddenly Jozy heard a loud screeching sound from above them. He looked up and saw what looked to be a red shooting star coming for the dome. His gold eyes burned brighter. " _Welcome back, Seeker. I'll be taking Ruby back now."_


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: Welcome back to RWBY: Darkfall all of you lovely people. So thank you guys so much for all of the support on the story and I just wanted to remind you that if you want more of RWBY: Darkfall; follow, and favorite. This is the quickest way for you to be made aware that a new chapter has dropped. Anyway that's enough of me let's get to the chapter.**

 _Fact: Liz was often made fun of during her stay in Beacon; all because her hair was naturally red and black._

"Good and Evil"

The bright red object broke through the force field and landed between Orchid and Penny. It landed with such a force that a large dust cloud was kicked up; blinding everyone on the field. Suddenly a white Grimm claw ripped its way through Penny, sending electronic circuits flying and oil spilling to the ground. The dust cloud cleared to reveal a one, yellow eyed Ruby; the black long-nosed mask still on her face.

"Ruby?" Penny choked out in distorted whisper.

"I'll take you too." Ruby said, an abnormally large smile on her face.

She withdrew her hand from Penny and admired the red artificially made Primal Semblance in her hand. It was then absorbed into her being and she felt an intense surge of energy course through her veins. All this happened whilst the force field was forcefully dissipating. This was not how a shield of its size or power was suppose to be shut down so the force of it crashing sent a shockwave that could cripple anything around it. Kale tackled Saffeara to the ground and covered her with his body. Luckily they landed behind a concrete wall that framed the force field. Tyler grabbed Liz from behind and turned himself till his back was to the shockwave. Weiss put a glyph between her and the rest of Team RWBY. When the shockwave hit Kale and Saffeara were covered in white dust but nothing more. Liz and Tyler were protected by Tyler's mass of Reflex Armor that covered his body. Finally Team RWBY was saved by Weiss's glyph she had formed in front of them.

Liz was the first one to recover from the initial shell shock.

"Is everyone alright?" she asked.

Everyone nodded until Tyler threw his helmet to the ground and set down; bracing his back against the same wall that Kale and Saffeara hid behind. He wiped the sweat from his mustache and proceeded to breath heavily.

"Let's… never do that again." he said, wiping his forehead.

Liz's face formed a smirk, "Agreed."

Yang retrieved her canteen from her belt and threw it at Tyler. He caught it and mouthed a silent, "Thank you." before drinking out of it.

"You good?" Liz asked; holding out out her hand.

"Yeah." Tyler replied; grabbing her hand.

She helped him up which was surprising since he was much larger than her. He threw Yang's canteen back at her; which she caught with relative ease. He picked up his helmet and set it atop his head once more.

"So what's the plan?" Tyler asked.

Liz took a few steps forward and looked onto the battlefield. She saw the mutated form of Ruby dispatching the Atlysian guards with relative ease. However, what she saw next shocked her to her core.

"I think we're about out find out." she muttered.

Everyone moved closer to her.

"What do you mean?" Saffeara asked.

"Look." Liz said pointing towards the battlefield.

Down below they witnessed Jozy get up on one knee and then fully stand up. They shifted their gaze over to where he was headed. Apparently Ruby had finished off the remaining Atlysian guards and was now moving towards Orchid. Orchid herself was too terrified to move; she was staring at something straight out of her nightmares. Ruby grabbed her head and proceeded to squeeze.

"Now this is interesting I could have sworn I killed you ten years ago, I must be getting sloppy." Ruby's grip tightened. "I guess I'll have to finish what I started." Seeker said from inside of Ruby.

Tears started leaking from Orchid's different colored eyes; the pain was becoming too much for her.

Jozy took two steps forward and saw what Seeker was making Ruby do to Orchid. Intense anger started to burn within him causing his gold eyes to burn neon yellow once more. Static electricity started to crackle around his hands until bolts of lightening enveloped his hands. He looked up from his hands and back to the scene unfolding between Orchid and Seeker-Ruby. Jozy suddenly vanished leaving behind a cloud of black crows. Seeker was too preoccupied with Orchid to notice where Jozy had gone. He found out where he had gone when Jozy appeared behind Orchid. His face mere inches away from Ruby's.

"Sorry, Ruby." he muttered; whilst putting his hand on Ruby's forehead

He then sent a wave of electricity through Ruby. Seeker screamed as every cell in his host's body was electrocuted. The intense pain caused him to let go of Orchid. She fell backwards, but Jozy caught her with his free arm before she could hit the ground. He then constricted his hand until it was glowing purple. Jozy sent a shockwave out of his hand that blew Seeker-Ruby back into the opposing stands.

Jozy collapsed to one knee; cradling Orchid in his arms. He lightly brushed her white hair out of her eyes.

"Hey, Ori." he said, smirking at her.

Orchid looked at him, tears still seeping out of her eyes.

"Dad." she said, before wrapping her arms around him.

His smirk stayed on his face as she started sobbing into his shoulder. However, it was not meant to last. The sound of tearing flesh hit their ears like a truck. Both of them looked over to the large crater that Ruby's body had made. Seeker had apparently woken up and was causing a massive amount of dust to swirl around his position.

"Dad, what is it?" Orchid asked.

Jozy didn't immediately answer until he saw a pair of black wings protruding out of the dust.

"Ori, hold on to me and don't let go." Jozy commanded; picking her up bridal style.

"Woah, o-okay." she said, startled at being picked up so fast.

Orchid shifted her gaze back over to the crater and watched in horror as Seeker-Ruby jumped out of the dust and prepared to strike them with its claws. She shut her eyes as the monster's strike landed, however the only sound she heard was of glass breaking. SHe opened her eyes again to see that they were where the rest of the Sequoia Tree was located. She looked over to where they had previously been and noticed that it had been covered by large chunks of glass. " _Was that Neo's semblance?"_ she asked herself. She couldn't dwell on this for too long since a familiar voice made itself known.

"O-Orchid?" it asked.

She turned towards the voice and sat there stunned.

"Mom!" she yelled, wrapping her in a tight hug.

Liz stood there for a moment unable to comprehend what she was feeling. She figured it out quickly and accepted the hug from her daughter; sobbing lightly.

"Ori you have no idea how much I've missed you." Liz said, between sobs.

"Heh, I have an idea, Mom." she said, finding it hard to breath from how hard Liz was squeezing her.

Team RWBY watched with small smiles on their faces as the admired the reunion taking place in front of them. Yang was the first one to take her eyes off of them and turned to Jozy.

"So your hair's been white the whole time?" Yang asked.

"Yep." he replied.

Yang smiled at his quick answer, "Well, it looks a lot better than the black and green."

"Thanks." he responded.

Suddenly he heard a gurgling sound from behind him. He turned around to see Kale who motioned with his eyes towards the battlefield. Jozy turned towards the field and saw that Ruby was standing in the middle of the field a black smoke emanating from her. Jozy closed his eyes, his soul filling with regret over what he would have to do.

"I have to hurt her again don't I?" he asked.

Kale looked at the ground, his eyes filled with sympathy.

"I'm tired of hurting my friends. I won't walk away though, and for you Kale I want to do something for you." Jozy said; whilst turning towards him and placing his hand on Kale's shoulder. "From now on you are to speak to me as any man would."

A blinding flash of light appeared before the two of them and then disappeared.

"Speak, Kale." Jozy commanded.

Kale's eyes went wide as he realized there was something new inside his mouth. He pulled his hood down and furiously tore the bandages from his face revealing his scars one by one. When he tore the final bandage from around his mouth he took a few breaths.

"I will, Jozy." he said.

Everybody looked in astonishment as they heard the voice that they never thought they would hear.

"How did you-" Blake started.

"I could tell you, but I don't think I have time." Jozy said, pointing towards the upper stands.

All of them looked to the upper stands. A whole company of Atlysian guards were taking up positions around them and around Ruby.

"Keep them off of me and I'll save Ruby." he said; making sure to look at Weiss.

She returned his look with a determined one of her own.

Everyone started reloading their weapons with fresh magazines, belts, shells, and raw Dust. Jozy turned to Orchid, who had found an Atlysian assault rifle lying on the ground and was currently sighting it it.

"Here you'll need these back." he said, producing Crystal and Diamond Cutter from underneath his coat.

Orchid looked at them for a moment, "Don't you need them?"

"If you think Dragon Razor was destroyed you are sorely mistaken." Jozy said, giving her a smirk.

She set her rifle down and received the katanas hastily. She placed them on her back and picked up her rifle again. She gave him a nod which allowed him to go. However, Weiss had been watching the exchange and spoke up.

"Make sure you bring her back to me in one piece." she said.

"I'll do whatever is necessary to save her." Jozy cracked his fingers. "But I won't kill her."

With that he sped off and into the battlefield; leaving a trail of rose petals behind him. Weiss blinked a couple of times trying to comprehend what she just saw. However, she did not have time to dwell on this when she heard Kale take the first shot at the Atlysians. This round hit one of the Atlysian commanders in the head; the large round vaporizing it on impact. Everyone who had a ranged weapon started to unleash all hell on the opposing soldiers.

"If you're not primarily a ranged fighter get up on that level!" Liz yelled over the gunfire.

Orchid dropped her rifle and followed her mother up the stairs; withdrawing Crystal and Diamond Cutter as she followed. Both of them jumped up to the upper level using their aura and proceeded to start the close ranged attack. Blake and Yang were soon to follow; launching themselves up using the same technique.

"Tyler!" Saffeara yelled.

"What!?" he asked; not turning towards her.

"Think you can throw me up there?" she asked; bullets impacting the area around her.

Tyler looked back at her and then towards the upper stands. He nodded and grabbed her by the neck. He made sure not to squeeze too tight and chucked her towards the stands. She had a smile on her face the whole time that she flew through the air. She landed dead in the middle of the Atlysian line and stabbed two soldiers with her claws and threw them to the ground with little effort.

Meanwhile, Ironwood was watching the battle unfold from a secure room in the middle of Amity Colosseum. He had his hands balled into fists as he watched the events unfold.

"This is out of hand, sir. I recommend that we evacuate." Virgil said, his hands shaking slightly.

Ironwood ignored him for the moment.

"Get Glynda in her." he ordered.

Virgil looked at him and opened his mouth to speak. However, he had second thoughts and shut his mouth and typed a message out on his scroll. A minute later Glynda walked through a sliding door, hands cuffed behind her back. She looked at Ironwood with disgust.

"Welcome, Glynda." he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"What do you want, James?" she asked, her words filled with venom.

Ironwood moved over to his commander's chair and took a seat, "Oh, I just wanted to have a lovely chat about a mission you're going to do for us."

Glynda scoffed, "I'm not doing anything for you."

"I thought you might say that, so I prepared a bargaining chip." Ironwood said, pressing a button on the arm of his chair.

On the huge wall monitor a picture of Ozpin tied to a chair came to life. Glynda's eyes went wide and then filled with hate as she turned towards him.

"Basically, if you don't help us I'm going to torture Ozpin until we find a way to kill him. So would you like to rethink your decision?" Ironwood asked, a sick smirk on his face.

Glynda was stuck in a snare that she couldn't get out of; she had no other choice.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked, hanging her head down in shame.

"Heh, I always knew you were easy. You are going to send a message to the Sequoia Tree by blood. Climb up to the highest point of the colosseum and kill the Wolf it should demoralize the Sequoia Tree enough to delay their advance." Ironwood said.

"And if she survives?' Glynda asked.

"Then you'll have some explaining to do." Ironwood said, getting up.

He undid Glynda's cuffs and lead her to an elevator that would take her up to the very top of Amity. He pushed her in and hit the "up" button. When the doors closed he turned and went back over to Virgil.

"We're leaving, grab Ozpin. So long as we have him we have a bargaining chip against Vale." Ironwood commanded.

"I will meet you at the Bullhead, sir." Virgil said, opening a sliding door opposite to the one that Ironwood was heading through.

Meanwhile down on the battlefield, Jozy and Seeker-Ruby were staring each other down. Ruby was looking worse for wear. She had claws on both of her hands now and had small Nevermore wings sprouting from her back. Her Reflex Armor was damaged so badly that in some areas her bare skin would show.

"Wow, two against one that's really fair, Seeker." Jozy said.

Suddenly Ruby flapped her wings and sped toward him at incredible speed. She picked him up by his neck and suspended him there. Jozy's white hair covered his eyes and his mouth was a calm straight line.

"Shut up, you arrogant human prick. Just because you got your shit together does not mean you can face me." Seeker said.

Jozy made no effort to respond to this instead he sought out someone he needed to talk to right now.

"You still with me, Ruby?" he asked.

"What?" Seeker said, turning around inside Ruby.

The girl was suddenly more invigorated than when he had originally possessed her. She had her head lifted up and started to violently struggle in the chair she was bound to.

"Don't you dare touch him! You touch him and I will kill you; rip you apart cell by cell till there's nothing left you ugly bitch!" Ruby yelled, tears streaming down her cheeks as she struggled.

On the outside Seeker dropped Jozy to his feet and grabbed his host's head in pain.

"It appears that you didn't bind her as well as you did me. You _are_ getting sloppy Seeker." Jozy said, walking around him.

"Shut up." he said, in a pained voice.

"Of course she can't break free yet. I guess I should help her." Jozy said, channeling lightning into his right hand.

He raised his hand and shot a bolt of lightning at him that swept over Ruby's face; specifically the mask growing out of her face. The intense bolt of white hot plasma broke the long nose of the mask off and burned the rest of it. Inside her mind Ruby watched as a majority of the chains that held her prisoner were broken off. However, she could still not move and couldn't take control.

Seeker regained his control and turned toward Jozy and swiped him with his left Nevermore wing. Jozy took the impact and his image shattered like glass once again. Seeker let out a loud animalistic roar when he realized he had been fooled again. He then heard the crunching of footsteps behind him and turned to see Jozy standing behind him.

In the upper stands Orchid saw him use this semblance once again. She suddenly heard screaming and turned to see an Atlysian soldier running at her with shock baton poised to strike her. Before he could get to her, however, he was shot in the head by Liz.

"Are you daydreaming, Ori?" she asked.

"No ma'am." she said, putting a new magazine into Diamond Cutter.

"Hey, Mom." she yelled, pulling the bolt back.

"What?" Liz asked; shooting two more soldiers.

"What exactly is dad's semblance?"

"What you should be asking is, 'What isn't his semblance.'." Liz said reloading her pistol, "The Forbidden semblance can copy any semblance in existence and this is why his Primal Semblance is set above ours; and this is also why that semblance has been nicknamed the 'King of Fakes'." Liz said.

Orchid's expression changed to one of astonishment; she had never heard of such a semblance. Her mouth formed a line of in difference as she looked down to the arena. " _Can anybody surpass him?"_ she asked herself.

Seeker jumped up in that air and shot a volley of Nevermore feathers at Jozy. The razor sharp feathers coated the ground as Jozy flipped out of the way. He then jumped into the air and sent two lightning bolts flying towards Seeker. Seeing the bolts coming for him, Seeker, covered his host with her wings. The electricity hit them and crackled around the feathers but did no damage.

"Goddamn, oversized chicken!" Jozy yelled; forming fireballs in his hands.

He then pointed his hands at Seeker and unleashed what looked like two flamethrowers from his hands. Seeker jumped into the air again and did a corkscrew motion between the two jets of molten hot Dust. He unfolded his wings and glided towards Jozy; grabbing his shoulders he flung Jozy to the outer wall. He impacted the wall and coughed blood from the force of the impact. Seeker landed in front of him and flip-kicked him in the jaw. Jozy tried in vain to block the punches that followed. His face took punch after punch until he managed to block one of Seeker's punches and kicked him away. Jozy stumbled forward holding his head with one hand.

"Die KING OF FAKES!"Seeker yelled, shooting another volley at him.

The first feather tore threw his chest and knocked him to the ground. The other feathers pinned his arms and legs to the ground. As he bled out he looked over and next to him he saw the mask that the green haired version of him used to wear.

"Are you just the King of Fakes or are you a person too?" Summer's disembodied voice asked.

A small smile broke out across his face. he started to laugh, and laugh, and laugh. Seeker took a step forward; his foot landing in a puddle of water.

"What are you laughing about you yellow eyed-" Seeker stopped speaking when he noticed Jozy's blood receding back into him.

He got a disgruntled look on his face.

"You just refuse to die don't you?!" he asked; deploying Ruby's wings once more.

However, before he could launch another barrage, Jozy. popped off the ground at incredible speeds. He sped towards Seeker and grabbed Ruby's shoulders and kneed her in the stomach. She coughed a large quantity of saliva and struggled to breath.

"You call _that_ an attack?" Jozy asked.

He then hit her in the back of the head sending her to the ground. Seeker was in a daze as he held himself up on the ground via Ruby's elbows. He then kicked her in the stomach which sent her flying into a boundary wall. The force of his kick was so great that her body made a large hole in the wall which was accompanied by a large amount of dust.

" _That_ was an attack." Jozy said.

Seeker jumped from the dust cloud once more and started swiping Ruby's clause at Jozy; who proceeded to dodge them with mocking smirk on his face.

"Oh, come now Seeker surely you could do better than that." he taunted.

Seeker was getting increasingly more frustrated as Jozy psychologically tortured him.

"You know I'm getting kind of hungry waiting for you to land a hit." Jozy switched to a semblance of an unknown persons and formed an orange in his hand. "Would like an Orange; or maybe a banana?" he formed a banana in his hand.

Seeker was getting more and more agitated.

"Or would you like a ruby red apple?" Jozy asked, forming an apple in his hand and taking a bite out of it.

"SHUT UP!" Seeker yelled; reaching for Jozy.

Jozy got a bright smile on his face as he realized that Seeker had passed the point of no return with this move. He dodged his reach and roundhouse kicked Seeker in the head. This knocked him to ground that he slid on for a few feet.

"I'm going to break that mask, Seeker; but it appears I'll need help to do it." Jozy said; outstretching his hand.

" _Madoka servatoya."_ Jozy said.

Suddenly the entire colosseum started to shake. Everybody in the upper stands stopped fighting and started to look around as the environment watched in amazement as the Atlysian soldiers dropped their weapons to their sides and watched the battle in the arena.

"Wow, so it is still alive." Liz muttered.

"What Mom?" Orchid asked.

" _Madoka Servatoya_ its ancient Valysian for 'return'; Jozy's summoning Obelisk to his side once more." Liz said.

Orchid's expression didn't change when she realized what her mom ment. On the ground next to Penny's dead body. Dragon Razor's shattered blade appeared to melt into an oily black substance that appeared to share the same properties as the substance that covered Jozy's fingernails. When it finally melted it floated up into the air as a giant blob of black ooze. It then flung itself at Jozy, who caught it in his outstretched hand. The ooze then formed itself into a long black sword that had gold outlining its blade. On the top it was serrated and appeared to be sharp enough to saw a block of steel in half. Leftover black ooze dripped from its tip and then floated back up to the body of its blade.

Seeker looked at Jozy with his one eye and tried to hide the feeling of intimidation that was welling up within in his being.

"Scared Seeker? I bet you father told you stories of this blade." Jozy taunted him with a grin on his face.

"Ha, you think I'm scared of that fucking pig sticker? You clearly don't understand me at all." Seeker said, unfolding Ruby's wings.

Seeker flapped her wings and lifted himself off the ground and started to glide towards Jozy at break neck speeds. When Jozy saw this he smirked to himself, his taunt worked.

" _Madoka_ Myrtenaster." Jozy whispered.

Suddenly Obelisk reformed itself into a black version of Myrtenaster. He then fired two ice torpedos out of it that tracked Seeker as he flew towards him. His one eye went wide as he extended his wings and stopped himself. He then fired a volley of feathers at the torpedos and Jozy. The feathers destroyed the torpedos and were now flying at Jozy who had Black Myrtenaster at his side. He watched the feathers fly towards him with an uninterested expression and when the feathers got close enough he pointed Black Myrtenaster blade down and changed it to a full body shield. When Seeker saw the feathers break apart on the shield he jumped in the air once more and flew high into the sky; trying to get around Jozy's shield. Jozy saw this and turned his shield into a black version of Reflection Breaker and took aim. When he fired, the round hit the joint that connected the wing to Ruby's back and severed it from her body. Seeker suddenly felt himself start to tumble and fall out of the air; and as he fell. he noticed the wing he was missing was falling with him only at a slower pace. He impacted the ground with a large thud and a fair amount of dust. Jozy returned Obelisk to its standard form and moved towards where Seeker landed. As he got closer Seeker ran out of the smoke in yet another attempt to strike him with his claws. However, before he could get even remotely close Jozy changed Obelisk to a bow and shot an arrow through Ruby's remaining wing and pinned it to the outer wall. Seeker was now stuck unable to move.

"You're a one trick pony you know that right? Your attacks are so predictable that if you don't kill your opponents in your first opening attacks you can't win." Jozy said; transforming the remaining material of Obelisk in his hand to a shorter version of its standard look.

Seeker was in too much pain to speak. Jozy proceeded to cut the other wing off of Ruby's body. Seeker fell to Ruby's hands and knees and looked at Jozy.

"Will you kill me now, King of Fakes?" he asked.

"You forget Seeker. You're still inside of one of my friends." Jozy replied, reaching for Ruby's face.

Seeker wasn't done yet though. He made the claws on Ruby's left hand to disappear and caused the ones on her right to grow longer. He lifted Ruby's torso up and attempted to stab him; hyper extending her arm in the process. Jozy reacted quickly and twirled Obelisk in his hand and what happened next would scar Ruby forever. In a flash blood splattered her face and a small cut formed on Jozy's left cheek. Seeker looked to the ground and realized that Ruby's right arm had been severed at the elbow and was now disintegrating on the ground in front of him. The cut on Jozy's cheek was the result of a stray claw gliding passed his face; it healed in a second.

Jozy grabbed Ruby's head, "For shame Seeker; your father will not be happy."

A bright light started emanating between Ruby and himself and a few moments later the mask fell from Ruby's face. The process also removed the white and red dye from Ruby's hair and left her with a dark, almost black, brown hair color. She started to fall forward but was quickly caught by Jozy who laid her down. Both of her eyes opened slightly and a small smile appeared on her face.

"Thanks for that." she said.

"Anytime." Jozy said; pulling his scroll out and sending a quick message to Liz.

"One of my arms feels lighter than usual." Ruby said; trying to sit up.

Jozy held her down, "Don't look."

Ruby looked confused; but her expression quickly changed to one of horror when she realized what had happened.

"It's not there anymore is it?" Ruby said, a loose tear coming down her face.

Jozy shook his head, pity in his eyes.

"I thought so; but I dismissed it as a dream." she responded.

Jozy lifted his head up when he heard two thuds lands across from him. Liz and Yang were now running towards him; urgency apparent on their faces. They slid next to Ruby and started to work on her. Liz wrapped a tight cloth around Ruby's severed arm in order to stop the bleeding.

"You're going to be fine Ruby just stay conscious." Liz said, going to work on the rest of her wounds.

Suddenly three Bullheads flew into the colosseum and dropped several squads of Sequoia Tree soldier along with Commander Magnolia.

"Hey Yang can you finish up with Ruby here?" Liz asked.

Yang nodded and switched places with her. Liz stood up and turned to Jozy.

"Hey, are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jozy said; wiping some sweat from his forehead. "Where's Ozpin?"

"Ozpin? I didn't know he was here." Liz said.

"Shit, I'm going to go get him because if we lose him we don't have anybody to run Beacon." Jozy said, walking towards a door.

"You want me to come with you?" Liz asked.

"It would be better if you stayed here, Lizzy." Jozy said; opening the door and walking through it.

Liz put her hands behind her back and kicked some snow lightly.

"You know I hate that name." she mumbled with a smirk on her face.

She looked up to the sky. " _Maybe things will get better from here on."_ she thought absent mindedly.


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: Hey guys I'm back with another chapter of RWBY:Darkfall and I will say that this one was incredibly fun to write. So thank you all for the support that you have been giving on this story; you all are awesome! Don't forget to favorite, review, and follow so you can get the latest chapters the fastest;) Without further ado let's starte the chapter.**

"Glassy Sky"

Jozy walked down a long corridor in the underbelly of Amity Colosseum. The dimly lit maintenance corridor smelled of grease and natural gas. " _I feel sorry for whoever had to work down here."_ Jozy thought. As he walked he made note of how his boots made a loud thudding sound on the grated floor and that at certain points he could hear an additional set of footsteps behind him. He stopped suddenly and turned around. Behind him appeared to be nothing, but the dimly lit corridor. However, Jozy had a hunch and switched to Liz's standard semblance that allowed her to see through walls.

"You can come out now." Jozy said.

From behind a bulkhead Liz stepped out into the light a hand on her hip.

"I thought I told you to stay with the other." Jozy said, confused why she was there.

"Please do you really think I would let you descend into the abyss alone?" Liz asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Jozy couldn't be sure; but something was off about her. She usually wouldn't disobey him, but there was a first time for everything he supposed. Then it hit him it was a very small detail about Liz; but it was one that the majority of people wouldn't even think to ask.

"Hey, Liz you smell amazing what perfume do have on?" Jozy asked the trick question.

"Hmm? Its called Wave Breeze." Liz said; a confused expression on her face.

Jozy's eyes went wide. Liz only had one kind of perfume that she wore and loved. It was a peach spice scented perfume that he would always buy her.

"Cool, we should get going." Jozy said, playing it off as if there was nothing wrong.

Liz nodded and started to follow him as he turned his back. " _I play your game for a little while, but in the end I'll kill you too."_ Jozy thought; a small smile creeping across his face.

Meanwhile back on the field the Sequoia Tree were busily filling Bullheads with Atlysian prisoners. Ruby had been moved into a stretcher and was busily being cared for by Weiss and Yang while Blake helped Kale set up some security around the field. Tyler had left on one of the first Bullheads to land; wanting to inspect the state of the Council Building. Saffeara was sorting the Faunus Divisions out and getting reports from their commanders. Above all of this was Liz who was working closely with Magnolia to orchestrate all of this.

"So all in all we captured around 10 Atlysian generals; but only around three of them are cooperating with our interrogation techniques." Magnolia read; from a holopad.

"Who are the ones talking?" Liz asked.

"It just so happened to be the ones who witnessed the fight between Jozy and Ruby." she clarified.

Liz cocked an eyebrow, "I guess the fight put the fear of God in them huh?"

"Quite, what would you have me do with the remaining seven generals?" Magnolia asked.

"Threaten them with torture from Saffeara; and if they don't comply even then make good on that threat." Liz replied.

"Yes, ma'am." Magnolia said; saluting her and beginning to walk off.

As she walked off she felt someone grab her arm. She turned to see Orchid standing next to her; a sweet look on her face.

"Hey, mom." she said.

"Hey, Ori how are you doing?" Liz asked.

Orchid let go of her mother's arm and turned to look at the commotion in front of them.

"I'm fine, but I wanted to ask you something."

Liz looked a little surprised, "Shoot."

"That woman, Saffeara I think her name is, is she naked underneath that robe." Orchid asked; trying to sound as innocent as possible.

Liz snickered a bit, "No, not totally; but I will say you definitely inherited your mom's intuition if you figured that out without getting a better look."

Liz put her hand on Orchid's head when she said this; resulting in a happy smile from the seventeen year old.

"She's really pretty too. What's she like?" Orchid asked, generally intrigued.

"You want me to get her number and her bra size for you to?" Liz asked; a smirk growing rapidly.

Orchid's face flushed a light red, "No Mom, Jesus, I, uh, I don't roll that way."

Liz laughed, "I knew you didn't; but anyway why are you so interested in Saffeara?"

"Well I used to be really interested in Kale; but he can talk now so he's pretty normal." she replied.

Up in the Sky Box Kale clenched his chest.

"What's wrong?" Blake asked.

"I think somebody just attacked my ego; and I wasn't there to protect it." He replied.

Orchid looked over to Saffeara again and noticed something about her.

"Hey, Mom how old is she?" Orchid asked.

"Um, I believe she turns 30 in a week." Liz started turning white at the thought. "I forgot to get her a present."

Orchid dead panned, "Wow, you missed 10 of my birthdays and can't lose sleep over it; but you forget to buy a present for her and you almost have a heart attack."

"Shut up; you have no idea how many birthdays of yours I cried all night." Liz said; crossing her arms.

"True, but I wasn't there to see it." she said, a mischievous look on her face.

Liz noticed two things about her grown up daughter. The most apparent thing was that while she looked more like her dad; she was more like Liz on the inside, well there were two things that showed up physically. The first one was her one orange eye and the other was, well her rather large chest that had been passed down through her family for years.

The second most apparent thing was that she was apparently easily sidetracked from her main topic.

"So why were you asking about Saffeara's age again?" Liz said, getting back on the original topic.

"Oh yeah, that's what we were talking about, heh." Orchid said, nervously. "It's just she's so short; I thought she was a lot younger."

Liz laughed, "Don't let her hear you saying that you'll regret it."

"Point taken." Orchid said.

After Liz stopped laughing she noticed yet another thing about Orchid.

"Hey Ori, turn around for me." Liz said.

Orchid got a confused look on her face; but complied anyway. Liz moved over to her and lifted the back of her hair up.

"Umm, mom what are you doing?" Orchid asked.

"Hold still." she said, plucking a hair from her head.

"Ow!" Orchid said, backing away from her and holding the back of her head.

"I got it." Liz said, holding a strand of black hair.

Orchid looked at the hair in amazement.

"That came from my head?" Orchid asked.

"Yep, underneath all that white hair of yours there are little strands of black hair that have begun to grow. Soon you'll have naturally two-tone hair like mine." Liz said, throwing the hair down to the ground.

"That's cool." Orchid said, brushing her hair down.

Both of them turned to look at the Sequoia Tree still steadily working.

"How long do you think it'll Vale to rebuild?" Orchid asked.

"A year maybe; but I think it won't be-" Liz stopped abruptly, when she saw a purple arrow impact the ground in front of them.

Orchid noticed that more of the same arrows landed all around the field. Suddenly they exploded flinging the Sequoia Tree soldiers along with Liz and Orchid back several feet. Liz landed flat on her back and slowly sat up; grunting as she did.

"Ori are you okay?" Liz asked.

"I'm okay, but my leg hurts." Orchid said, looking down at her aforementioned leg.

She saw that several pieces of glass had been blown into her leg and cut through her boot.

"Oh, come on I liked these boots." Orchid said, trying to sit up fully.

Liz stopped, "Don't move I'm going to have to pull that glass out before it gets any deeper."

Liz moved closer and looked at her bleeding leg. " _Damn it, if only I had some tweezers this would be a lot easier."_ Liz cursed in her head. She started to pull the pieces of glass out of Orchid's leg quickly and carefully. Orchid bit her lip as she felt the glass come out. She looked up and noticed that Liz was bleeding underneath her armor and the blood was seeping through her armor.

"Mom, you're bleeding." Orchid said; pointing towards Liz's arm.

"What?" Liz looked at her arm. "Ah, shit."

Liz pulled one last piece of glass out of Orchid before, starting to unsnap the buckles on her Reflex Armor. She removed its torso and arm guards to reveal a black tank top. On her right arm was a large gash that was bleeding profusely. She placed her hand over it and pressed down, gritting her teeth as she did.

"Are you okay?" Liz asked.

"I'm fine, but I don't think I can stand." Orchid replied.

Liz nodded.

"Liz are you okay?!" a voice yelled.

Liz looked up and saw Magnolia and Weiss running towards her.

"I'm fine, but Orchid can't walk." Liz replied.

"Well, that's better than I expected." Magnolia responded.

"Do we have any idea what that was?" Weiss asked, looking around.

"It looked like some sort of sniper from where I was." Magnolia replied.

"That was no sniper, Magenta; that was a fucking huntress." Liz said, beginning to wrap a roll of gauze around her arm.

Magnolia's eyes went wide, "We lost comms with Kale, and Tyler isn't here. Where did you last see Saffeara?"

"She was over towards the center of the field." Orchid said, pointing towards the portion of the field that was still hidden by dust.

"I'll go and get her." Magnolia said, turning around and running towards the direction indicated.

"Weiss, where's Ruby?" Liz asked.

"Yang and I moved her into a small maintenance corridor; Yang's with her now." Weiss replied.

"Good girl, you should probably get-" Liz stopped when she saw another volley of arrows coming in.

She jumped up and used her aura to create a shield around the two girls and herself. The arrows impacted her shield and broke. When the volley was over the two girls looked at Liz who was stood up and breathing heavily. Sweat was dripping off af her and her skin was as white as a sheet.

"Liz?" Weiss asked, standing up.

Liz moaned as she fell backwards. Weiss sprang into action and caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Woah, woah okay." Weiss said; slowly lowering her to the ground.

When she laid her down, Weiss, took off her jacket and put it under Liz's head.

"Oh god, Mom are you okay?!" Orchid asked, frantically.

"I'm fine, Ori." Liz replied, her voice somewhat shallow.

Liz pulled out her scroll and checked her aura. The bar stated that she still had over half her aura left; but Liz knew she was out.

"Crap, I used up my aura. Ori I can't take another one of those barrages; you'll have to use your semblance if there's a next one." Liz said.

"I will don't worry." Orchid said.

Weiss knelt down and looked at Liz's scroll that was lying on top of her stomach.

"It still says that you have most of your aura though." Weiss pointed out.

"Heh, I had hoped to announce this in a more peaceful environment; but that's not going to happen it looks like." liz said.

"What are you talking about Mom?" Orchid asked.

"Right now my aura is being siphoned from me; because I'm… pregnant." Liz said.

Weiss sat there dumbfounded; while a small smile grew on Orchid's face.

"You could have told us sooner than that, Mom." Orchid said; grasping her hand.

"If I did you would have been more concerned about the pregnant lady than anything else." Liz countered.

"Arrows coming in!" Weiss said; pointing Myrtenaster towards them.

"Ready, Ori?" Liz asked.

"Yep." Orchid said, outstretching her hand.

She created a force field around the three of them that would protect them from the arrows.

Meanwhile Jozy was still descending deeper into Amity Colosseum. The previous maintenance corridor had given way to round white walls, that gave off a futuristic feel. He had been accompanied by this imposter ever since he met her in the maintenance corridor. As the descended deeper into the colosseum it was apparent that she was the most irritating person ever. Almost every five minutes it seemed like she would complain that she was bored. Jozy was incredibly pissed.

"Where are we even going? You're lost aren't you." the fake Liz pouted.

Jozy had, had enough. Using a small amount of movement Dust he barely flicked two of his fingers up and caused a door behind them to open. The Fake turned on her heel in surprise as she heard the sliding door open. Jozy also turned around; but in a way of mock surprise.

"Check it. I don't want to get ambushed in here." Jozy commanded.

"Fine, have me do all the work." the Fake mumbled, heading towards the door.

She withdrew her revolvers from her belt and entered the room poised to shoot anything hostile. The room itself was another long hallway; but it was more elaborate than the other hallways. Its floor was draped in a red carpet and had marble columns on each side of it. The fake Liz put her revolver down when she saw it was clear. She heard Jozy step in behind her and decided that now was her time to strike.

"Sorry, but you brought this on yourself." she said, turning and shooting Jozy.

She watched as the bullet went through his chest and exited his back. However, her satisfied expression quickly turned to one of shock when Jozy's form disappeared into thin air. " _An afterimage!"_ she yelled within her mind. A gunshot rang out in the room and she collapsed as the bullet hit her leg. The illusion that she was Liz quickly failed to reveal that it was Emerald all along. She turned towards the sound of the gunshot and saw Jozy standing there with a black version of Liz's revolver.

"How did you know that I wasn't your wife?" Emerald asked; hate in her voice.

"It was simple." Jozy knelt down next to her. "Liz rarely wears perfume; but when she does it's a peach spice scented one."

"You're shitting me." Emerald cursed.

Jozy formed Obelisk into a dagger, "Unfortunately, I am not and I don't have the time to spend killing you in such a way that you'll regret your decision; but my friend does have the time."

Jozy set Obelisk down onto Emerald and patted her shoulder. He then got up and left; closing the sliding door behind him. Within seconds he heard Emerald start to scream and then it stopped. Obelisk seeped out from under the door and crawled over to Jozy. It climbed up his leg and congregated on his right hand; and instead of forming into its standard form of a long sword it proceeded to crawl up his sleeve until it had effectively hidden itself. A small trail of Emerald's blood ran down his right hand which he wiped away.

In a partially opened door Ironwood saw this and proceeded to move down another hallway and entered a large hangar bay. He walked over to one of the Bullheads that was still docked and found Mercury standing there anxiously waiting for him.

"Yo, what gives I thought you were going to get Emerald." Mercury yelled over to him.

"I was until I found out she got killed. Come on we need to go now." Ironwood said, climbing into the Bullhead.

"Wha, what about the others?" Mercury countered.

"Virgil, knows how to fly." Ironwood said, buckling himself in.

Mercury had an aggravated look on his face; but didn't argue any further. He climbed into the pilot's seat and started the airship. He lifted the ship and took off at full throttle. The Bullhead sailed into the air and headed towards the ocean; the sun setting in the background.

"Where do we need to go?" Mercury asked over the intercom.

"Just get me to the remains of the Atlysian Fleet." Ironwood said; whilst looking at the purple explosions coming from the colosseum in the distance.

The bay doors shut and closed off any view of the outside world.

Back on the field Magnolia was still looking for Saffeara. In the time from when she left Liz and the others two more volleys of arrows had been launched on the ground. This slowed down her progress immensely; however the continuous firing from one position gave the remaining Sequoia Tree a general idea of where their enemy was and allowed them to put fire on that position. As she ran Magnolia heard another arrow land behind her. She jumped into an impact crater from one of the other barrages and covered her head as it exploded. She looked up and saw the chaos of the Sequoia tree as they started firing their weapons towards the direction of the arrow. " _This is crazy where are those arrows even coming from?"_ she asked herself. She started to look around and stopped when she found Saffeara standing up amongst the rest of the soldiers.

"There she is." Magnolia said, a relieved look on her face.

However, this expression quickly changed to one of fear and dread as she noticed where the arrows were coming from. High up on the very edge of the colosseum was a bright purple light and it was aiming right at Saffeara. Magnolia jumped up from her position and ran towards Saffeara. As the arrow shot Saffeara noticed Magnolia running at her.

"Maggy what are you doing?!" Saffeara yelled.

Magnolia didn't have time to explain as the arrow got nearer to Saffeara by the second. She jumped forward and put her body between the arrow and Saffeara. The next thing she felt was the arrow going through her back and getting lodged in her lower intestines. She coughed blood that landed on Saffeara and stained her robe. She fell forward. her hair a frizzy mess. and landed on Saffeara's right shoulder.

"Saving you, dumby."Magnolia replied to her earlier question.

Her body went limp in Saffeara's arms. She caught her in time and layed her down on the ground. Apparently the arrows needed an extremely hard surface in order to detonate as the one inside Magnolia had not. Saffeara turned her over. pulled the arrow out and threw it away. She then ripped the sleeves off her robe and put one on the entry wound and another on her exit wound.

"M-Maggy?" Saffeara stuttered; the first of many tears beginning to roll down her face.

"Come on, Saffeara, are the last things I'm going to really be you crying for the first time?" Magnolia asked, a mirthful smile.

"Please don't say that, Magenta." Saffeara said; her hair casting a shadow over her eyes.

Magnolia reached up with her left hand and left her right one to keep pressure on her wound. She cupped Saffeara's cheek and moved her so that she could look at her.

"Saffeara, you and I both know that even with my semblance I can't regenerate this much d-damage." She choked on the last word as tears of her own started trailing down her face.

Saffeara started sobbing all the more; because even though she didn't want to believe it, it was true. Magnolia tried her best to keep from crying, but didn't manage too well. She only stopped when she felt one of Saffeara's tears land on her hand and she saw that it was black. She looked up and noticed that the black Grimm blood inside of Saffeara's eye had leaked into her tears and left her with a blood red eye. Her silver eye had changed color as well and was now the same blood red color as her other eye. Magnolia smiled. " _Saffeara how many people will you become; before you find a place where your happy?"_ she thought.

"I don't think I'll ever be as happy as I am with you, Maggy." Saffeara said; as if she was reading her mind.

Magnolia laughed a little bit, but stopped when she coughed up more blood. Saffeara reached down and lifted Magnolia's head up; allowing her to breath.

"There is not much time left Saffeara so please when I go take my semblance. You won't be able to use Evercaster without it." Magnolia said; weakly pulling her sword and sheath from under her coat.

"I will, Maggy." Saffeara said, holding her head just a little bit tighter.

Magnolia's eyes started to close and her purple eyes started to fade.

"Come closer." she said.

Saffeara moved her head closer and watched as Magnolia lightly pressed her lips against hers. Her head then fell back as her soul left her. Saffeara placed her hand over her heart and absorbed her semblance into herself. This caused her hair to change drastically. Grimm blood started to ooze out of her scalp and stained her red hair a greyish black. The tips of her hair were still red, however. She held Magnolia's body for just few seconds more until she heard the sound of another arrow coming her way. She set down Magnolia's body; and stood up. " _This whole time I had been living in a nightmare of my own creation; running from the very thing that I am. Now in this truly fucked up world ,where everything has been taken from me, Ruby, Kale, Jozy, Liz , Tyler and Magneta. I realize that in this moment I am the difference between life and death. As Magenta's broken half merges with mine I realize that my sanity was stolen from me; but it doesn't make me any less human."_ Saffeara said to herself; her eyes glowing bright red under the shadow cast by her hair.

As the arrow flew towards her she raised her hand and stopped it in mid air. She then turned it around and flung it back towards its shooter. She then kicked Evercaster up into the air with her foot, and caught it before placing it in the chains that were around her waist. She then took off at full sprint following the projectile as it flew.

On the tallest point of the colosseum, Glynda saw the arrow flying back at her and jumped out of the way. She watched as the arrow impacted and blew up the portion of concrete walkway that she had been standing on previously. Suddenly she saw a flash of red light illuminate her and turned around to see Saffeara standing behind her; arms at her sides. The two stood there staring at each other in silence.

"If you've come for revenge then you better start; if not then you better leave." Glynda said; pointer her wand at Saffeara.

"Trash." Saffeara responded.

"Excuse me?" Glynda asked.

"Dumb, shitty, stupid, dumb trash that's all you are." Saffeara said; walking towards her.

"Stop or I will kill you." Glynda threatened.

"Oh will you? How about all those men and women you killed? How about the mothers you sent to their deaths; whose only chance to see their children again was to fight with the Sequoia tree? I ask now can you really kill me Glynda?" Saffeara taunted.

Glynda had to steel herself, "Shut up; I did what I had to."

"Isn't that what they all say. Let me guess he threatened to kill Ozpin and you fell for it." Saffeara was extremely close to her now. "Did you really think Ironwood could kill Ozpin?"

"SHUT UP!" Glynda yelled; forming a glyph underneath Saffeara.

Saffeare jumped in the air and flipped away from Glynda as the glyph imploded the area around it. When she landed on the ground she ran at Glynda at break neck speeds. As she got closer Glynda put up another glyph to shield herself. Saffeara jumped up and kicked the shield with such a force that it cracked like glass. " _Impossible!"_ Glynda said to herself as she jumped back. Saffeara stood in front of her; her eyes had a red aura coming from them that looked like fire.

"Are you scared, Glynda? You should be, because what happens when you run out of stuff to throw at me?" Saffeara said; withdrawing Evercaster.

She made its blade split apart and placed it under her arm; electric conductors pointing behind her. She then shot the concrete pathway behind her causing it to crumble and fall to the vacant upper stands; then spun around and shot the pathway behind Glynda. Glynda watched as the pathway fell; trapping her.

Saffeara outstretched her left hand, "So tell me Glynda; how much ammunition do you have left to throw at me?"

She had a playful smile on her face as she said this. Glynda grit her teeth and formed the purple bow she had been using to shoot the arrows previously. She launched arrow after arrow at her and cursed under her breath as Saffeara danced around them. This went on for a moment before Saffeara launched an attack of her own and ran at Glynda once again. Glynda acted as she did before and created yet another glyph to protect herself with. Evercaster collided with the Glyph in a flurry of sparks before breaking it. Glynda quickly threw up another one d watched as that one broke as well.

"What the hell is that weapon?!" Glynda yelled; creating a glass sword and locking it with Evercaster.

"Isn't amazing?" Saffeara smirked. "Evercaster was made by an Elizabeth Cadmium Armalite, before she became Elizabeth Cadmium Glass. "

Saffeara and Glynda disengaged their swords and hit each other with a spin-hit that sent them flying back. Saffeara had a long cut across her stomach and Glynda had a deep cut on both of her legs. Both stood up and faced each other; their adrenaline and semblances blocking out the pain.

"Evercaster feeds on its opponent's semblance and aura; so essentially it was made to kill other _huntsmen_." Saffeara said; moving Evercaster parallel with her body.

"Even so I will not die from the hands of an abomination like you!" Glynda said; running at her.

"Are you sure about that?" Saffeara mumbled.

Glynda slashed down with her glass sword and was met with the sound of glass breaking on concrete. A horrified expression went across her face as she realized she missed. Saffeara had moved to the right of her swing and was now standing their with a smirk on her face. She then kicked her in the face, breaking her glasses and turning her a full 180 degrees. Glynda was in a daze as pushed herself up off the ground. She heard Saffeara's bare feet moving behind her; and then she heard the sound of glass being picked up. With the shard of her broken sword Saffeara stabbed her from behind. Glynda coughed blood that ran down her chin and onto her chest; where the tip of the shard was currently sticking out of. She watched as Saffeara moved to her left side and looked at her.

"Goodbye, Ms. Goodwitch." Saffeara said; raising Evercaster.

With that she cut off Glynda's head spraying herself with blood. As her lifeless body fell to the ground, Saffeara flicked her wrist and cleaned the blood off of Evercaster. She then turned towards the edge of the walkway and put her hood up; and jumped off. As she fell she remembered a question Jozy had asked her a long time ago when he was first teaching her to be a huntress.

"Do you have reason for fighting?" he asked.

"No." she replied.

"What about Magneta?" he asked.

Saffeara smiled to herself. She never did answer that question but now she knew she had the answer. For the people who had saved her she would do anything and would save all the rest. She landed on her feet without a sound and looked towards the center of the field. There she saw Kale looking at Magnolia on the ground. He looked up when he heard footsteps coming towards him and felt a sense of pity growing inside of him.

"I'm sorry, Saffeara." Kale said.

"Thanks, Kale." Saffeara said; kneeling down next to Magnolia.

She started to take off her robe to drap over Magnolia's body; but she was beat to it by Kale; who draped his robe over her. Saffeara looked at him with a questioning look.

"You're naked underneath that thing; and I'm not. Plus it would probably help for you to be decent when people see you." Kale said; justifying himself.

"Thanks a lot, Kale." she said; giving him a light hug.

She then let go and picked Magnolia up and carried her bridal style towards a nearby Bullhead.


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: Welcome back guys I have missed you. So I really don't have much to say expect that you guys are awesome and I couldn't do it without you. Please follow, review, and favorite as it helps me keep doing this sort of thing and bringing this content to you guys. Love ya:)**

"Rebuild"

Jozy progressed down the long corridor that would eventually lead him to the hangar bay. He had heard the explosions above and now walked at a much more brisk pace. His boots made loud clanging noises on the grated floor as he stepped through an automatic door at the end of the hallway. As he entered the hangar bay he saw a handcuffed and shackled Ozpin being lead to a Bullhead by Virgil. Jozy scoffed jumping down to the hangar floor with a thud. Virgil and Ozpin turned when they heard the sound. Virgil pushed Ozpin to the ground and removed his jacket. Now Virgil was one of the oldest members of Ironwood's command at 59 years of age; yet he was very muscular and was nicknamed Ironwood's man of steel for his legendary damage resistance. Jozy looked at him with ice cold eye.

"So you finally decided to make an appearance you white haired bastard." Virgil said; putting fists up, muscles bulging.

Jozy made no comment; he just stared at him.

Virgil started to get irritated, "Fine, then if you think you can take me; come at me!"

"Pfft." Jozy scoffed. "You're the one who took your damn shirt off. You come at me."

Virgil got a smile on his face before he charged at Jozy. He started swinging at him with skilled ferocity. Jozy knew he was at a disadvantage here. He was a battlemage although most of his fighting style consisted of his use of close ranged weapons it did not mean that his body was built for _this_ style of combat. He did not dwell on this and allowed Virgil to move him backwards as he dodged. Jozy backed into another Bullhead and allowed Virgil to bury his fist into the armored plating on its hull. He dented the plating causing his hand to get stuck for a moment. Jozy placed his hand on Virgil's chest and blew him back using movement Dust. However, instead of landing on his back he flipped and landed on his feet unscathed.

Jozy put his hands together, "Now that is truly impressive; but you made the mistake of assuming, I'm an idiot."

Virgil cocked an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"Don't act fucking stupid; you and I both know that your semblance gives you that incredible endurance." Jozy shot back.

Virgil laughed, "In all these years you're the first one that I've fought who's noticed the connection between my semblance and I." Virgil cracked his knuckles. "However, you will also be the last."

He ran at Jozy; fist poised prepared to knock him into next week. In a flash, however, he found himself being stabbed by Jozy's left hand. He yelled in pain as Jozy withdrew his hand, sending copious amounts of blood onto the floor. Virgil fell backwards into a sitting position and started to put pressure on his wound.

"H-How did you get through my armor?" he asked.

"It's quite simple actually. Armor is only as good as the person wearing it, so a big, slow and heavy guy like you couldn't fend off a high power attack from a small, and fast individual like myself. Plus you have one of the weakest semblances I've ever seen." Jozy said; adding insult to injury.

"You're an asshole, you know that?" Virgil said.

Jozy withdrew an ice Dust crystal from his pocket, "I get that a lot actually. So tell me something 'Iron Man' what's thicker than water; but not thicker than oil?"

As he asked this he placed the Dust crystal in Vrigil's mouth; propping it open.

"The answer is; blood." Jozy said.

With that he activated the crystal which froze the blood in Virgil's veins killing him instantly. Jozy stood up and went over to Ozpin who had his mouth taped.

"Your knight in shining armor has arrived Ozpin." Jozy said; taking the tape off.

"It never was a simple 'you're welcome' with you was it?" Ozpin said.

Jozy cut the cuffs and shackles off of him.

"You're welcome." he said; picking Ozpin up.

"Thanks are in order I suppose; but after we get off of this vessel. I don't suppose you have a plan to get us out of here do you?" Ozpin asked.

"Yeah, but I think something bad has happened, so we should probably go." Jozy said.

Both men left out of the hangar bay and moved to the battlefield. A few minutes later Jozy and Ozpin arrived on the field where they learned of what happened to Magnolia and Glynda from Kale. Both men were now caught in a predicament that they had not prepared for.

Ozpin stayed silent as there was nothing he could think to say after being caught off guard. Jozy was quite different, however.

"How's Saffeara?" He asked; not flinching.

"She is… handling it. You should also know that we've sanctioned Vale's emergency hospital and treating the serious wounded there." Kale said; shutting his scroll.

"Ozpin, find a Bullhead and get out of here. I must oversee things here for the time being." Jozy said.

Ozpin moved toward an adjacent Bullhead; his face downcast.

"Jozy, I need a word." Kale said.

"Not here." Jozy said; putting his index and middle fingers on Kale's forehead.

He then used Neo's semblance to teleport them to the uppermost part of the Colosseum. This section was bathed in the setting sun; and provided ample amounts of privacy. Both of them looked at the sun and admired how beautiful it was compared to below.

Jozy put his hands behind his back, "What is it?"

"Magnolia's death will send a shockwave throughout the Tree. Soon the entirety of the Sequoia Tree will not scream for war; but for blood. I fear Ironwood has bitten of more than he can chew." Kale said.

"The Tree has grown big and now a worm has taken one of its roots away. It is only natural for the Tree to respond in such a violent way. As for the blood I will give them all they require. However, her death and Ruby's injures will set us back about three months or so." Jozy responded.

"I think it would be wise to let the veterans of the battle to rest a little; but for the ones who did not fight I can't think of anything to do with them." Kale said; putting his hands in pockets of his Reflex armor.

"I know what to do with them. The city of Vacuo has been decisively neutral in this entire conflict and it wouldn't take much to incite a civil war there and turn them in our favor."

"Would we be declaring war on Vacuo as well?"

"No, this would be a black operation. As far as they would know it happened by itself."

"Do you know who's going?"

"I do; but while this is going on I want you to get GHST squad and have them scout the Black Dragon Continent to the northwest of Vytal."

"Scouting a whole continent would take time; especially a heavily jungled area like that one. It is one of the reasons why it's never been settled after all."

"Yes, but here have been rumors that Atlysian military bases have been able to tame that area; and that's what we're looking for."

"It'll also give us a straight shot to Atlas if we conquer it. So all around it's a solid plan." Kale said.

"Remember, we have three months to waste so take your time." Jozy said; turning to his left. "Most of the high command's injured so we might as well meet up at the hospital when all is said and done." Jozy added.

Kale nodded silently before turning into a blob of water and falling to the field below. Jozy would soon follow suit; but took an extra second to admire the sunset for but a moment longer.

Hours passed and evening turned into night. Jozy sat in a waiting room that had been turned into their living quarters for the night. Jozy had his feet propped up on a table in front of him and was flipping through a magazine he had found. Across from him, behind another couch, Kale was asleep in a sleeping bag. Off to Jozy's right one could see Tyler; who had dozed off in his arm chair. Jozy looked at the clock in the room and found that it was barely passed 8 o' clock; yet he felt like he could pass out at any minute. He jumped suddenly when he saw Liz walking into the room.

"Jeez if I knew I was that scary I would sneak up on you more often." Liz teased, sitting down next to him and snuggling in.

"Screw you, plus you're not _that_ scary." Jozy said; putting his arm around her shoulders.

"Someone's feisty all of a sudden." Liz teased.

Jozy cocked an eyebrow as a smirk formed on his face.

"And someone's pretty energetic for a pregnant lady; who just fought in a war." Jozy countered.

"Please, I'm only like a week in; plus I know you can't wait till I start having cravings again."

"Oh my god, please don't let them be as weird as when you had Orchid."

"Hehe, the peanut butter, cookie sandwiches were the best." Liz remarked; sinking into a state of bliss at the thought.

Jozy rolled his eyes; even after all these years Liz was still a ditzy reddish head.

"Speaking of Orchid, how is she?" Jozy asked.

"She fell asleep just as I left." Liz replied.

"That's good, is Saffeara still doing okay?"

"Yeah, she said that she was going to see Ruby; before she goes home for the night."

"Oh yeah, that's right I forgot Saffeara actually has an apartment in Vale. I hope it's still standing." Jozy said.

"I believe it still is." Liz said; trying to keep her eyes open.

Jozy noticed this and stood up. He grabbed a blanket off the ground and lightly pushed Liz causing her to topple over on the couch. He then draped the blanket over her slender form.

"You, Lizzy, are going to sleep right here; and will not complain about it." Jozy said pointing at her; with a small smirk on his face.

"That nickname still sucks dick." Liz said; moving the blanket around with a playful smirk on her face.

Jozy shook his head, "And they told me you were a sophisticated lady."

"Well, you're an asshole so I think we blend nicely." Liz said; closing her eyes.

"That we do." Jozy muttered; going over to another sleeping bag and laying down.

Meanwhile Ruby was still awake in her hospital room. The room itself was a little small; but provided certain coziness to it. It had one window that currently had moonlight streaming through it; which helped illuminate the room. To her right was an IV that was constantly supplying her with morphine. Her right arm was one giant bandage that protected her half-arm. Occasionally Ruby would try to feel the strange bandages that covered her face' but then remembered immediately that she would have to do it with her left hand.

She shifted her gaze from the window and over to a collection of gifts her friends and family had given her. Her dad and uncle had stopped by earlier that evening; and the rest of her team had stopped by two hours ago and Weiss had left an hour ago. Ruby shifted her gaze once again over to the clock in the room. " _Man, I can't believe it's already ten o'clock."_ Ruby thought shifting in her bed restlessly. She was suddenly ripped from her thoughts when she heard her door open.

"Ruby are you awake?" a familiar female voice asked.

"I'm awake, Saffeara." Ruby said in a raspy voice that surprised her.

Saffeara took that as a good sign and stepped into the room; playing with her fingers somewhat awkwardly.

"If you want to get some rest I can always come back tomorrow." Saffeara offered.

"No, it's alright I was bored anyway." Ruby assured her.

Saffeara smiled a soft smile and moved over to Ruby's bed. The light from the window graced her skin and made her red eyes and the streaks in her hair glow.

"I love the new look; but then again you were always pretty." Ruby said.

Saffeara blushed a little; but was used to having people compliment her in this way.

"Thanks." she said; pulling a chair over to her.

Ruby's face took on a more solemn expression, "I-I heard about Magnolia. Saffeara I'm so sorry."

Saffeara looked at the floor for a second, "Thanks, Ruby."

Both sat in silence for a few seconds before Saffeara spoke up.

"How are you doing, Ruby?" Saffeara asked; looking at her bandage.

"Heh, I've been better; but the good news is that Liz has had some experience with bioengineering and she said that she could make me a new arm." Ruby said; a bright smile on her face.

"That's fantastic Ruby." Saffeara said; turning her attention to the window.

She looked out and saw that half the city was still without power; but the moonlight was enough to satisfy them for now. Ruby started to look out the window with her.

"Hey Saffeara, did you want to be a huntress?" Ruby asked out of the blue.

Saffeara looked at her with a curious expression before answering.

"Honestly Ruby, I never wanted to be a huntress. I was born to an abusive father and a washed up mother who didn't give a rats ass about me."

"Sounds awful." Ruby said.

"Yeah, but it wasn't so bad I suppose my mother had a large book collection that she allowed me to read. I guess that's why I became author."

"I didn't know you wrote books Saffeara. Did you write anything good?"

"I wrote a novel to my grandmother who had recently passed away and it was accepted pretty well I believe; and then after that I made a collection of short stories that was very popular with teens." Saffeara said; trying to remember long lost memories.

"What were they called?" Ruby asked.

"The novel was called _Monochrome Raindrops_ and the other was _Lovely Eyes._ " Saffeara said.

"Oh my god, I didn't know you wrote _Lovely Eyes_. I read that story when I was twelve and it made me cry." Ruby said a bright smile on her face.

"Aww why?" Saffeara said; a smile adorning her face as well.

"Because, the girl with the blue eyes was so nice and she died." Ruby said; whining a little.

"Yeah, that one was one of my favorites to write." Saffeara said.

Ruby face formed a wide smile before going to an expression of shock.

"What is it?" Saffeara asked.

"I, uh, have to pee could you help me out?" Ruby asked; a light blush.

Saffeara stood up from the chair she had pulled over and went over to the younger girls right side. She started to unhook a few different hoses and helped Ruby to her feet and helped guide her over to the bathroom whilst she was wheeling the IV along with her. As she helped her she noticed how awkward the girl moved with her injuries. It made her heart bleed; and caused her to start tearing up but she refused to let herself cry.

She opened the laminated wood door for her and let her enter first. Ruby hobbled over to the toilet and lifted her hospital gown and sat down. When she finished Saffeara helped her back into her bed and brushed a few strands of hair out of Ruby's eyes.

"I'm going to go, Ruby. The others are just down the hall if you need anything." Saffeara said.

"Okay, thanks for helping me." Ruby said; shifting in her bed.

"Anytime." Saffeara responded; moving towards the door.

When she had exited the room she wiped her eyes; and then put her hood up, casting a dark shadow over her red eyes. She proceeded to the exit and stepped out into the freezing air.

Some time later she arrived at her apartment building. She walked up the stairs and quickly found herself at a red cherry wood door that stood out amongst the other oak ones. The lock had a keypad on it; which needed a five digit pin number in order to be opened. Saffeara extended her index claw on her right hand and put the pin number in that she only knew. She punched it in with her claw as to not leave fingerprints and opened the door. She entered and observed the current state of the room. She had been here once already so the lamp she turned on was still alight; casting a soft glow in the room that reflected off the hardwood floors. In front of her sat a glass coffee table that had a few objects decorating it. Set around the coffee table was a dark chocolate, leather, couch. Placed all along the walls were an assortment of bookshelves thats contents ranged from fairy tale to dark horror. Off to her immediate left was a door that would lead to her bathroom. To her right was a door that lead to her writing room; which was barely used nowadays. In front of her were two doors that were separated by a bookshelf. The one on its right lead to Saffeara's bedroom and the one it's left lead to her "special projects" room.

Saffeara had purchased this apartment over four years ago; and had used the money she procured through her book sales. She usually didn't tell people how rich she actually was; partially because she wanted to keep her writing life separate from her current one. She moved to the bathroom and opened the door. In inside was a more modernized bathroom then one would typically see elsewhere. She shut the door and moved over to the mirror. It felt like an eternity since she had really had the time to look over herself. Physically she was fine and her new eye color and hair color were a lot better than the last ones she felt. However, her eared robe was a different story. One of the ears of her robe had a hole in its tip and the other had a bullet hole in it. She had ripped the sleeves of it off trying to bind Magnolia's wounds and lastly the slash that Goodwitch had given her across the stomach was now represented by the large cut on her robe. Among all of these there were still smaller cuts and gashes from previous battles as well. " _I'll have to get a new one_." Saffeara thought; retracting her arms into the robe. She reached around the collar and found a single tied drawstring that kept the robe tight around her slender and curvy figure. She undid the drawstring and watched as the robe fell to the floor immediately. This left her with her bandage bra and a pair of white boy shorts. She then started to unravel the bandages and free herself from the bindings. She breathed a contented sigh when it was finally removed and dropped to the ground. She then let her boy shorts fall to the ground and looked at her now fully nude body in the mirror. From the front she appeared completely normal; but when she moved her hair just a little bit one could see a long scar that curved around her neck. It was her father's last gift to her. She moved over to the shower and started the water. When it was warm enough she stepped in and started to wash herself. As she was getting close to done she allowed her mind to wander which sent memories of the day flooding into mind. She collapsed to her knees and held herself ; whilst leaning against the tile wall. She sobbed as the water continued to pour down on her.

"Magenta why? Why did you have to save me? I was supposed to protect you." Saffeara cried.

She sat there and cried until she remembered another thing from her time in training.

"Remember Saffeara, anyone of use could die; but waht matters is that we all died for the same thing." Jozy said.

Saffeara looked at him with a questioning expression, "What do you mean?"

"When we die we will have died for each other and nobody else; because we care about each other above everything else." he clarified.

Saffeara looked up towards the ceiling his words echoing in her mind. She turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. She picked up her clothes off the floor and stepped out of the bathroom. The cold air hit her bare skin immediately; but she banished the sensation to the far corners of her mind. She threw the bandage away and proceeded to go into her bedroom. She had thrown her underwear in a hamper previously and was now going to pack away her robe. She folded it and placed it in a box that was to be put away in her closet. She then grabbed a white, strapless bra and put that around her chest. She then found a pair of white lace panties and slipped them on before shutting her closet door and moving over to her bedside table. There she withdrew a needle and some black thread; and left her bedroom. She then proceeded to walk over to her "special projects" room and opened the door slowly. It was pitch black inside, save for the lamp light now streaming into the room, and the sound of analog clocks ticking echoed in the room.

Saffeara grabbed a small chain and turned on an overhead light whilst shutting the door behind her. She then turned and got a small smile on her face when she saw who was lying in the corner. Bartholomew Oobleck was sitting on his knees and his body appeared to be completely limp as he was sitting in a very awkward position. Saffeara had stripped him naked and beat him to the point of unconsciousness; but then stopped and would not allow him the pleasure of passing out. The human body has 206 bones and Saffeara had broken all but three of Oobleck's. She had also placed a wide assortment of analog clocks around him so that the sound would slowly drive him insane.

"Hello again, Oobleck it looks like you're having fun." Saffeara said; licking her lips.

Oobleck flinched at her words; but soon looked up with a slight smile on his lips. She had broken him; and he submitted himself.

Saffeara smiled, "I've broken every bone in your body except for your neck, skull, and jaw. Now I will make you into one of the greatest weapons humanity has ever seen."

With that she threaded the needle and pierced her arm with it; making sure to get as much of her human-Grimm blood on the needle and string as she could. Saffeara walked over to Oobleck and started to sew his mouth shut.

"Relax Oobleck the path to knowledge will be painful; but will have an end. Now let my blood rebuild your semblance from the ground up." Saffeara said; standing up.

She then sewed his eyes shut and finished by cutting the thread. She took the needle and sterilized it before throwing it away. She then moved over to the door and opened it.

"Sweet dreams." She said shutting the door.

While she let Oobleck's semblance sort itself out she retreated back to her bedroom and sat down on her bed suddenly very tired and bored. She adjusted her bra and decided it was probably time for her to turn in for the night. Since she was located fairly high up in the building she felt no need to cover herself whilst she closed the curtain on her bedroom window. However, when she looked out her window she noticed some commotion going on in an alley below her. She squinted her eyes trying to get her natural night vision to proc in her bright room. From what she could see it looked like two animals fighting; but she couldn't tell. She pursed her lips and grabbed a white silk nightgown off of a hook in her room and quickly put it on. She then proceeded to her front door and opened it. Saffeara exited her room and locked the door behind her. " _I swear I must be cat faunus."_ Saffeara thought as she descended the building.

When she made it outside she was almost blown away by a gust of cold wind that made her shiver almost immediately. She swore under her breath as she made her way over to the alleyway where she heard the sound of a dog whining. She poked her head around the corner and saw a small puppy looking at what she assumed to be its mother lying dead on the ground. She moved around the corner and slowly started to approach the animal currently weeping over the lose of its mother. Its ear twitched before turning towards her at lighting speed; baring its teeth with a vicious growl. Well about as vicious as a puppy could get. Saffeara moved closer until she saw its eyes glowing brightly in which she stopped in her tracks. This puppy was no common dog, in fact it wasn't even a domesticated dog; it was a Dire Wolf. When Saffeara stopped walking the young wolf took this as a time to strike and ran at her. It jumped in the air and latched itself onto her left forearm; and refused to let go. Saffeara looked curiously at the foreign entity that had latched itself onto her arm. She gave it a few shakes before it fell off and landed on its butt. Saffeara braced herself up using her knees as she leant in to get a closer look at the small ball of fur. It was so small that its baby teeth couldn't even break her skin.

Without a word Saffeara scooped it up into her arms like a baby and proceeded to carry it back into her apartment building. When she made it back to her apartment; she carefully set the delicate animal down and made her way over to a small mini fridge. She grabbed a raw steak and opened it for the wolf. She set it down and watched as it timidly walked over to the steak and started to eat it. Saffeara took this as a good sign and went to retrieve a bowl from a cabinet located in the living room. She filled it with water and set it down in front of the young wolf which he happily drank from. It was a few moments after this that Saffeara found out that he was male by how he lifted his leg and started to pee on the floor. Saffeara's face deadpanned as she let him finish. She picked him up and squinted at him.

"You hate wool carpet too, huh?" Saffeara asked.

He barked before licking her on the nose. Saffeara carried him over to her bedroom and set him on the second pillow on her bed and went to cleaning up the wolf's mess. When she got done she joined the wolf in bed and turned off the light.

"Goodnight, Dye." Saffeara said to the already sleeping wolf.

With that Saffeara fell asleep feeling a lot better than she had.

A month went by and in that time several key things had taken place. Vale had been rebuilt and its government had been restored; Ozpin was now back at Beacon and Qrow was helping him maintain order there; Ruby was out of the hospital and was currently undergoing rehab so that she could learn to use her new robotic arm proficiently. The Sequoia Tree had grown en mass to become the strongest military power in all of Remnant and had elevated the leadership to new positions of power. Jozy was now Supreme Commander of the Sequoia Tree(SCST), Liz had been promoted to Regional Commander; effectively giving her second in command of the Sequoia Tree. Saffeara had been promoted two whole ranks due to her killing Glynda Goodwitch. She was now a Red Star II and was the commander of all Faunus Legions. Kale was promoted from Red Star IV to Field Marshall making him the third most powerful person in the Tree. Tyler was promoted to Red Star III for is defense of Liz. Finally Ruby was promoted four whole ranks for unwillingness to kill the rest of Team JNPR. She was now Red Star IV; the fourth most powerful person in the tree. The rest of Team RWBY were given medals for their participation and were held in high honor in Tree. They were also allowed to leave whenever they liked since they were never officially added to the Tree. Above all of this, however a civil war had broken out in Vacuo and was said to be lead by a new female, Sequoia Tree, general that had snow white hair and different colored eyes. The only problem was not everyone in agreement with it...


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: Merry belated Christmas! I hope all of you got exactly what you wanted. So here is my gift to you guys another chapter of RWBY: Darkfall. Thank you guys so much for your support on this story it has been a fun adventure and I love you all for it, so please review, follow, and favorite it's is the best way for me to know that I'm doing a great job. So without further ado let's get to the chapter.**

"Vacuo"

It was now the middle of February and the political situation inside of Vale was tense. Most of the population of Vale was weary of war and did not want be involved in a war with Atlas; which Jozy could understand. However, a majority of the population, including several council members, believed the Sequoia Tree was there to protect them forever. They were wrong the Sequoia Tree was a separate entity from any other kingdom thus they refused to swear any allegiance to any kingdom; they were the protectors of the free world not bodyguards. This problem brought Saffeara, Kale, and Jozy to the council building.

"They're ready for you sir." A Sequoia Tree soldier said; coming through an adjacent door.

"Thank you, let's go guys." Jozy said standing up.

Saffeara and Kale stood up with him and followed him into a long spruce wood hallway. Saffeara and Kale both looked a lot better since the Battle of Amity. Saffeara had perked up considerably with the addition of Dye in her life and had went out and bought a new dark grey version of her old eared robe. She also wore Evercaster in its sheath on her back so she could access it easily. The most drastic change though was the fact that she had cut her hair. Her red and grey hair used to go well past her shoulder blades; but now it barely made it past her shoulders.

Kale now had his naturally red hair accenting the new robe he wore. The robe itself went passed his feet and completely hid them from sight. The sleeves of the robe went passed his hands and hid them as well. Around the neck was a tall collar that hid his face from the nose down. The robe itself was black with deep red accents that reflected the light.

Jozy was probably the least changed of the two. Besides the new pin striped suit pants and the metal boots he now wore he still donned the same black duffle coat that went down to his knees. The only major thing that really changed about the coat was that it now had a heavy duty fastener on the collar that had two gold snaps on either end of it. All three of them continued to the end of the hallway where they parted ways. Saffeara and Kale went to the left and entered a door that would take them to the upper balcony of the Council Chamber. Jozy continued a ways before coming to a pair of double doors with two guards to either side of them. They saluted before opening the doors and allowing him to enter. Jozy walked through the door and found himself standing in the middle of a massive room that had several rings of chairs surrounding the floor that Jozy was standing on.

The floor itself was black and yellow; in a checkered pattern and was so glossy the soft glow of the chandeliers practically blinded him. In the center of the floor sat a podium that had a single black microphone on it. Jozy walked over to the podium and watched as the council members took their places and talked amongst themselves. Suddenly a loud banging rang out in the room and all the Council Members took their seats. Jozy looked towards the bangin and saw High Councilmen, Edmund Wellingham. He was in his mid-sixties and wore a purple suit. The light in the room reflected off his glasses and his grey hair and mustache.

"Gentlemen, our first order of business today will be the questioning of the Sequoia Tree's leader; Jozy Glass." Edmund said; pointing towards him with his hand.

Everybody looked towards him when he did this.

Jozy braced his head up with his hand and motioned for them to continue.

"We have scattered reports that there are Sequoia Tree special forces and a single Sequoia Tree General participating in the Vacuo Civil War. Now if that were true it would mean that Vale is also a prime target for Vacuo." Edmund speculated; squinting his eyes.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. All of my generals are accounted for." Jozy said; his face displaying his disinterest.

"Oh, are they? Then I could ask one of your red stars and they would agree with you?" Edmund asked.

"Go for it. After all I didn't come alone." Jozy said' looking toward the upper balcony.

Everyone shifted their gaze and finally noticed Saffeara leaning over the balcony with Kale standing behind her; his eyes filled with disgust.

Edmund cleared his throat, "Very well, are the facts the Commander is presenting true?"

"They are; I just checked the numbers last night." Saffeara lied with a sly look.

"I was asking the Field Marshall." Edmund clarified.

Saffeara backed off with a playful smile on her face; and allowed Kale to step forward. However, he only took one step forward before speaking.

"I personally refuse to speak to pond scum such as yourself; but I will back my Red Star's findings." Kale said; stepping back.

Saffeara returned to her spot and shrugged her shoulders. The Council was now in an uproar and demanded an apology. Saffeara just laughed knowing full well that they wouldn't get one.

Jozy just smirked at the agitated High Councilmen; who was looking at him with intense anger. Jozy lifted his head off of his hand and stood up fully now,

"Well, I say your question has been answered." he said; backing away from the podium and turning towards the door.

"Wait." Edmund said, his voice echoing throughout the chamber.

Jozy stopped his last step echoing through the room even louder than Edmund's voice.

"There is still the matter of Professor Oobleck." he continued.

Jozy didn't turn around, "I told you he's dead."

Jozy walked to the door with no further words and left. Saffeara and Kale joined him in the same hallway they had walked down previously.

"I wish the old man would go all the way and emasculate himself." Kale said; keeping pace with the other two.

"He can't do that Kale; because he's already a cunt." Saffeara said; smirking at him.

Jozy snorted at her words because that's how everybody felt about him.

"So what are you guys doing for the rest of the day?" Jozy asked.

"I'm having tea with our lovely, pregnant, Regional Commander." Saffeara said; pulling her hood down and messing up her grey and red hair.

"Don't put hard liquor in the tea like you usually do." Jozy said.

"Don't tempt me." She joked.

Saffeara turned to Kale, "So what are you doing the rest of the afternoon?"

"Getting lunch, doing paperwork, and then taking a long sixteen hour nap before I have to join GHST squad on the BD Continent." Kale said; crossing his arms.

"Oh shit, that reminds me I have a ton of paperwork to do as well." Jozy said; rubbing his head.

"Sounds like you guys are going to have a lot of fun. By the way how's the family Kale?" Saffeara asked; suddenly remembering what she wanted to ask him.

"Their fine, Mary just turned three and we celebrated her birthday yesterday." Kale replied.

Kale rarely talked about his family; but if it was one of his friends he would openly talk about them. Kale was married to a Valysian woman named Mackenzie, and was the father to her three children; Jeffery, Faith, and Mary who was the youngest.

A bright smile grew on Saffeara's face.

"Wow, I can't believe that; it almost seems like yesterday when she was born." Saffeara said.

Kale ran his hand through his hair, "You have no idea."

"So did you make sweet, sweet love to Mackenzie when you got home?" Saffeara said; her eyes twinkling with playful slyness.

Jozy coughed when she said this.

"Maybe why? Are you lonely, Saffeara? I'm sure your hand can fix that." Kale countered; trying to lure her into a trap.

"Oh it can; and it has you ass." Saffearas said; effectively dodging his trap.

Jozy sighed, "Sometimes I feel like I have more than one kid."

"Well, in eight months you will." Saffeara clarified.

They reached the main lobby where the sunlight from the outside was streaming in through the large bay windows. The three of them quickly started to descend the flight of stairs.

"Yeah, I know." Jozy said.

The conversation died down as the hit they hit the lower floor and exited the building.

Outside was a Bullhead, colored in the Sequoia Tree's mat black, that was hovering on the landing pad. Below the landing pad, 40 stories down, was Vale's Commercial district where most of media and social practices were located.

"I'll catch the next one." Saffeara said, stopping on the platform.

"You sure?" Jozy asked; turning around with Kale.

"Yeah, I want to get a direct route to my apartment." Saffeara replied.

"Okay, we'll see you later." Jozy said; turning around and boarding the Bullhead.

Kale turned to Saffeara before boarding and outstretched his arm; balling it into a fist. Saffeara smiled before meeting his fist with her own. Kale then retracted his arm and boarded the airship. Saffeara smiled and waved at them as they left. Both waved in return; before disappearing behind the blast door and flying off. Saffeara lowered her hand and looked around. Seeing no one around she sat down and crossed her legs. She had requested a Bullhead earlier; but had no idea when it would arrive. She let out a sigh as she braced up with her right hand. She now had to play the waiting game.

An hour later she had made it back to her apartment and was currently sitting on her couch; wearing just her white strapless bra and her white underwear. Her legs were crossed; and on her lap was a much bigger Dye sleeping peacefully. Her arms were draped over the back of the couch as she looked up at the ceiling in an almost trance-like state. Her hair hung off her head in wet clumps from her recent shower; and the water on her bangs trickled across her face. Suddenly she raised her head up and looked around the room; she had been having strange feelings for about a week, like her aura was trying to warn or tell her about something. She pet Dye slowly as she thought about these feelings; but decided against looking into it any further for the time being.

"Hey, Dye I have to get the tea ready." Saffeara said.

Dye whined before getting off of Saffeara; who sat up and walked over to her Special Projects room. Since the apartment was rather small she didn't really have a space for the kitchen, which she didn't mind since she wasn't her too often and when she was there was almost no company to speak of. As she entered the room she turned on a lamp that only lit up half the room and went over to a small stove. There she started taking the necessary steps to preparing the tea. While she was doing this she heard the rustling of cloth behind her; which caused her to stop for a moment before continuing. Suddenly the doorbell rang and she rushed to go and get it. While she was gone the shadows stirred behind her yet again; and marked their presents by a hissing sound before returning to their normal state.

Saffeara opened the door to find Liz standing there patiently. Both girl's faces lit up as they saw one another.

"Hey, Liz come on in." Saffeara said; stepping out of the way.

"Thank you," Liz stepped in. "wow this place always amazes me with how beautiful it is."

"Thanks, I do try my best." she said; crossing her arms.

"I also see that you still refuse to put clothes on when other people are around." Liz teased her.

"Only when my friends are over." she said; walking towards her Special Projects room. "If you'll excuse me I'm still getting the tea ready so make yourself at home."

"Thanks." Liz said, setting her purse down on the table and taking her coat off.

She placed it on a brass coat hanger that Saffeara had placed next to the door. Underneath she wore a loose fitting, purple, long sleeved shirt that showed her growing baby bump. Her pants were a pair of sleek dress slacks that framed her high heeled boots nicely.

"So they do get bigger when you're pregnant." Saffeara said; re entering the room with a tray. She also wore a cheeky grin on her face when she said this.

Liz blushed a deep shade of red whilst crossing her arms in a futile attempt to cover her more developed chest.

"Th-They do, as a matter of fact. You have no shame Saffeara." She mumbled the last part.

"You're right about that one." Saffeara said; setting the tray down.

Both women sat down across from one another; and Saffeara handed Liz her cup of tea.

Saffeara took one herself and reclined back, "So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Do I need a reason to visit you, Saffeara?"

"Of course not, I just figured that our beloved Regional Commander would have something important to discuss."

"Well I will say that your intuition is sharp as ever. There's serious pieces of news sweeping the Tree." Liz confirmed.

Saffeara took a sip of her tea, "I take it the Council hasn't been notified of hit yet.

"Only the Minstrali Council has been notified; but it was one simple message." Liz drank from her tea. "It read, 'Vacuo burns and surrenders to the freedom fighters; and the Tree'."

Saffeara clapped her hands together, "That rather impressive. To think that Orchid was able to topple a government in a month is no small feet."

"True it makes me proud to know that she's so skilled."

"Well she did come from your loins."

"I know; and now her sister has taken her place."

"So you did find out the gender."

"I did yesterday; but it was just a rough guess at this point in time."

"Still it's better than nothing; have you thought of some names yet?" Saffeara asked; setting her empty tea cup down.

Liz set hers down as well, "Yeah, but we haven't decided on any yet."

"Well, that's good; have my recommendations reached the others yet?" Saffeara asked next.

"They have and we agree with you that our soldiers should be trained on how to kill huntsmen. If for the only reason being, to make sure the events at Amity Colosseum never happens again." Liz said.

Saffeara looked down at the thought before bringing her gaze back up.

"Great, that should help us immensely when we finally get to Atlas." Saffeara stated.

Liz nodded in affirmation before transitioning to her next topic.

"Another thing came up from our Valysian recon team who reported that they found an Atlysian Bullhead hidden in a forest to the southwest." she said.

"You mean a flyable one right?" Saffeara asked.

"That's correct we thought it might be remnants of the Atlysian 3rd army, that was pushed into the sea by Tyler, but we found it was too new and undamaged." she replied.

"How far was it out?"

"50 miles out."

Saffeara reclined back further, "That's well outside of our sensors Liz, even with the fleet hovering above us as we speak it could've gotten through without a problem."

"Yeah, to make matters worst there was this symbol painted on the side of it." Liz said; producing a single photograph from her purse.

Saffeara took the photograph and looked at it. On the side of a white Bullhead was a blue "w" with a sharp "S" written through it. Saffeara's red eyes widened as she recognized it.

"What is it?" Liz asked.

"A hunch; but I'd rather keep it to myself incase I'm wrong. In the mean time I'll send my feelers out." Saffeara said.

"Thanks." Liz said, looking at her watch.

"I should probably get going; I'll see you tomorrow." Liz said; standing up.

"Okay, bye." Saffeara said; standing up and picking up the empty cups.

Liz gave one final wave before disappearing behind the door. Saffeara took the empty cups and tray and placed them into the sink in her Projects room. She then returned to the couch and layed down flat on her back; her hair sprawling out on the cushions. She put her left arm on her forehead and stared at the ceiling once again.

"Kakata vu sate tu dake ou tes zarta. (Finally, you show your face after all these years)" She muttered in Valysian.

Suddenly she heard Dye get up from the piece of floor he had claimed as his and walk over to her. She shifted her head to the right and watched as he moved closer to her and started to lick her face. She laughed before scratching behind his ears and kissing him on the top of the head.

"You gotta go out?" she asked.

Dye barked in affirmation.

Saffeara chuckled, " Okay, let's go out."

She went into her bedroom and grabbed her new black robe. She slipped it over her head and secured it to her body. She then returned to the living room and opened the door. She allowed Dye to leave first and followed him down the stairs. " _You know our apartment building should really get an elevator."_ Saffeara thought.

A day passed and Kale was now sitting in side of a Bullhead bound for the Black Dragon continent. Inside the Bullhead was dark and only illuminated by a red door light. On the floor Kale had Reflection Breaker set up on its bipod so that he didn't have to hold onto it. He reached inside of his robes and produced a picture of his wife and kids. He had looked at this picture countless times; but each time he looked at it he still felt a sense of melancholie. The picture itself was over a year old but he always kept it with him no matter what.

The Bullhead jerked a bit as it slowed down and opened its bay doors. Kale placed the picture back in his robe and covered his eyes from the blinding sunlight. His eyes adjusted quickly and saw a remarkably dense rain forest. The Bullhead descended below the tree level and started to slow down even more as the neared the Sequoia Tree's base. Slowly several soldiers and androids appeared on the road below him and then the full base came into view. It was large with a multitude of tanks and spider androids all surrounded by a squad of soldiers. The Bullhead slowed till it came to a stop and slowly started to descend till its landing gear hit the landing pad. Kale grabbed Reflection Breaker by its carry handle and jumped out of the Bullhead. As he started to walk he noticed Sang of GHST squad standing in front of him, dressed in a navy blue officer's coat that had the Sequoia Tree's insignia embroidered on each arm. Her arms were placed behind her back as she waited for Kale to come closer.

"Sang, report." Kale said; walking passed her.

"Since your last visit, we've doubled our scouting patrols." Sang responded; walking with him.

"And?"

"It's all the same there's nothing here save for the Grimm." Sang brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "However, in the last few weeks our scouts have been reporting abandoned camps scattered all throughout the interior of the continent."

"Several people have tried to colonise this continent so that could explain the camps." Kale suggested; hefting Reflection Breaker and slinging in it on his back.

"Yes but we also have sentinels reporting seeing human figures moving around in the tree line at night."

Sentinels are heavily armed and armored guards the Sequoia Tree uses to defend points of interest.

"That is concerning; are the others ready to embark?" Kale asked.

"They are." Sang confirmed.

"Good, we'll move out in five minutes." Kale said.

Both continued to walk towards headquarters the mystery of the forest around them clouding their every step.

Five minutes later Kale and GHST squad were traversing the rough jungle terrain, trying to find anything that would make the journey to getting to Atlas easier. In the back of Kale's mind he could feel the shadows moving around him. It was maddening. Suddenly a loud rustling came from their right and GHST squad immediately formed a circle and started looking in every direction.

"Look sharp, possible Grimm presence." Gia said.

"You got it, sis." Henry responded.

Kale was so relaxed he looked like a statue; the only thing that moved on him was his eyes. An explosion rang out from their left and a large tree started to fall towards them. Kale pushed Sang out of the way before jumping out of the way himself. The tree landed with a giant thud and separated Kale and GHST Squad. Kale got up from the ground and looked at the tree that had to be at least thirteen feet wide. He then reached into his pocket and produced a ear piece.

"GHST squad come in. Are you alright?" Kale asked.

"Yeah, we're fine. We'll try and find a way around; good luck." Sang replied before cutting the connection.

Kale looked at the tree one more time before grabbing Reflection Breaker off of his back. Weapon in hand he proceeded into an extremely dark part of the forest. A few minutes later Kale came to a random clearing in the otherwise dense forest. As he entered the the middle of the clearing he heard the forest suddenly come to life as several shadowy figures ran through it. Kale looked at every direction and turned Reflection Breaker into its chainsword form; his yellow eyes as cold as ice. Suddenly two boulders were ripped from beneath the ground and converged on his position; appearing to crush him as they impacted one another. As the dust cloud settled five White Fang soldiers emerged from the tree line; Dust rifles in hand.

Their leader turned to a young cat Faunus with brown eyes, "Nice shot, Erika."

"Th-Thanks." muttered pulling her red hood over her face a little more. She was apparently very shy.

Their leader laughed as he moved over to where Kale was.

"So this is the great Tourniquet; the one who was on the White Fang's bounty boards for years. I guess the stories really were lies." He took his mask off to reveal a scar that covered half his face. "I mean to think that you were _this_ easy."

"Yes, you were." a voice said from behind him.

A hand burst through his chest and lifted him up into the air. He looked behind him to see Kale standing there, Reflection Breaker in his other hand.

"Get lost." Kale said; throwing him more than a few yards away.

He then turned to the other soldiers and took note of how terrified they were.

"How are you still alive?!" one yelled.

"My semblance has the power to transform my being into a pillar of water. So what you thought was me was actually a small puddle of water." He replied stepping forward.

The remaining soldiers, excluding Erika, started firing on Kale. Which he responded to by turning himself translucent. The White Fang soldiers watched in horror as their rounds went through him without doing any damage.

"My Primal Semblance removes me from existence thus you cannot shoot what does not exist." Kale said, breaking out into a sprint.

He went up to the first one and cut his head off, he then sped over to the one closest to him and cut off his legs before stabbing him on the ground. The third one tried to run away, but Kale caught up to him and grabbed him by the throat and his grip gradually started to increase.

"You would leave your only teammate behind; who's a girl to boot? You shit." Kale said, before hearing the soldiers trachea snap.

He dropped him to the ground; his limp body making disturbing thud on the ground. Kale turned to Erika who had been crying the entire time and was now sitting on her knees. He stopped in front of her and prepared to end her life in one slash from Reflection Breaker. However, he stopped himself and grabbed her hood and pulled it down to reveal a black headband with flowers on it stuck in the middle of her short brown hair. kale took a step back and put Reflection Breaker under her chin.

"How old are you?" he asked.

Erika sniffled, "Four-Fourteen."

Kale eyes went wide before he heard something jump out from the tops of the trees. In a flash he brought up Reflection Breaker to attempt to parry Adam's ninjato. It half worked by the fact that Adam missed the killing blow, yet he still managed to leave a deep cut on Kale's left shoulder. Kale reacted quickly and kicked Adam in the stomach causing him to slide back. Adam growled as he jabbed Wilt n' Blushe's ninjato into the ground and sent a shockwave towards Kale. Kale reacted quickly once again jumped into the air as the shockwave ripped apart the earth beneath him. Adam took this opportunity to grab Erika and disappeared into the underbrush. Kale landed back on the ground and found that he was the only one there now. He placed Reflection Breaker on his back and proceeded to walk back towards the Sequoia Tree's base. A deathly silence enveloping his being.


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to get to write some white rose after so long; I mean it's just awesome. Anyway, welcome back to RWBY: Darkfall guys and if you don't already know I am a huge fan of White Rose; but not in the way like "Bumblebee sucks; I'll kill you if you don't ship Ruby and Weiss." that's not cool. So thank you so much for all of the support guys and don't forget to follow, favorite and review as these are the easiest ways for you to get the chapters the fastest. Love you guys :)**

"I love you Mrs. Rose"

Ruby was asleep in her bed dreaming happily. It had been three months since the Battle of Amity and two months since she was allowed to leave the hospital. Light started to stream through the thinly curtained window in her room. This lightened the darkened room to a cool grey which allowed one to observe the many decorations and knick knacks in her childhood bedroom.

Ruby's bed was somewhat small and her comforter was her classic color red. The walls were painted with a light pink color that helped blend the other reds together. Across from her was a wooden desk that had various pieces of paper and a black cup full of pens, pencils, and crayons. It was a mess just like her desk back in the Hole speaking of which there were three new pictures on her bedside table. The first picture was of Liz and she on her graduation day. The was of her and Weiss kissing on the day she got out of the hospital; needless to say Weiss was red as a beat when she found out that Yang had taken the picture. The third was only a few weeks old and featured all of Team RWBY gathered out front of her house.

Next to the pictures was an alarm clock that suddenly went off. Ruby stirred in her bed and covered her head with her comforter in a vain attempt to drown out the noise. However, she soon realized that she would not win this and set up in her bed and used her left hand to turn the alarm off. She groggily started flexing her right hand and immediately heard the waning of machinery. She looked down and found the robotic prosthetic that Liz had made for her after she lost her arm. The fingers moved just like her real ones had once moved and felt just like her arm used to for the most part. She used her right hand to brush her bangs out of her eyes. The cold metal on her face woke her up all the more. It was one of her few complaints about her new arm; the only other one was that its forearm part was still missing its armored covering and thus wasn't very attractive. Luckily Liz said that the covering would arrive today.

Ruby got out of bed and the old wood floor creaked under her weight. Standing up something was now very apparent; her hair was much longer than it ever had been. It was now passed her neck and at its longest point, rested between her shoulder blades. When Jozy expelled Seeker from her her hair color changed to a dark, almost black, chocolate brown and as time progressed she noticed that she had light brown highlights in it that reminded her of peanut butter. Ruby walked over to her window and opened the curtains that showered the room with sunlight; temporarily blinding her. When her eyes recovered she looked outside to see the new spring leaves glistening with rainwater. Ruby backed away from the window and stretched. Her dad had bought her a set of pajamas and they fit nicely on her body which was still toned.

"Ruby are you up?! Breakfast is ready if you are!" Tiayang yelled up to her.

Ruby smiled as she walked over to her door and opened it; her bare feet thumped on the hardwood floors. Ruby lived in a two story house in the middle of the forest with Yang and her dad. Ruby descended the stairs quickly, but carefully and saw her dad sitting in the living room watching the news.

"And in other news. The Sequoia Tree has officially relinquished control of Vale back to its civilian council. Now the High Councilmen, Edmund Wellingham, protested this move and requested that Supreme Commander, Jozy Glass, recant his decision. However, he was met with one answer from the Commander, 'Do your job.' This is Evie Lavender for Vale News signing off." Evie Lavender reported.

Taiyang chuckled at the response Jozy gave before grabbing his coffee and taking a drink.

"Morning Dad." Ruby said; announcing her presence.

Tiayang turned to see his step daughter walking into the living room and turning to the kitchen on her left.

"Morning sweety, your sister up yet?" he asked.

"Heh, what do you think?" Ruby asked; a playful smirk on her face.

Taiyang thought about what he just asked, "You're right."

Ruby walked out from the kitchen and sat on the loveseat adjacent to the couch her dad was currently sitting on. She carried with her a simple piece of toast and a coffee of her own. She placed both on the coffee table and turned her attention to the newscast.

"So how did you sleep?" Tiayang asked.

"Good, I didn't want to get up though." Ruby replied.

"I can understand that; and I _know_ that your sister understands that." Taiyang said.

"Yep." Ruby agreed, a smile on her face as she drank from her coffee.

"So how much longer are you on leave?" he asked next.

"Today's my last day and then I have to return to the Sequoia Tree." Ruby replied taking the last few bites of her toast.

"Hmm, have you asked if the others are going to join you?"

"I've already decided for them. I won't put them at risk anymore."

"So what you're saying is that you would rather have the ones that you care about the most somewhere you know is safe. It's a noble call, but I don't think there is a right call in this situation." Tiayang said giving his daughter a sympathetic look.

"Thanks I was also going to talk to Weiss today whether I have 'it' or not." Ruby added.

Taiyang stood up, "Don't worry Ruby, Liz will come through." Ruby stood up as well and Taiyang hugged her. "I'm so proud of you; through everything you came out on top and now you're almost done."

Ruby hugged him back before hearing a thud from upstairs. Both broke the hug and looked towards the noise.

"I guess your sister's up." Taiyang said; sitting back down on the couch.

"Well since she's just getting up I'm going to take my shower before her." Ruby said; marching up the stairs.

Fifteen minutes later Ruby was stood in the middle of her room looking at herself in the mirror. Besides the obvious lack of her regular arm she had many scars on her body from her last battle. Although her primal semblance would have normally healed them she had run out of enough aura to power it. Ruby decided to stop admiring herself and get dressed. She went over to a dresser that was right beside her bed and grabbed a pair of black military cargo pants and a red belt. She quickly put her panties on and then slipped her pants on. Ruby then moved over to her closet and pulled out a red and black leather vest. It had been a Christmas gift from Weiss and although it didn't look like it; it was actually bullet proof. Ruby draped it over her shoulders and zipped it up as high as it would go. She foregoed wearing a bra for two reasons; one more obvious than the other. The least obvious one was that thanks to the some three months of not wearing one underneath her armor she finally got used to it; the second one was that the vest itself was padded. Ruby then went over to a piece of floor next to her door and grabbed the boots that Yang had bought her for Christmas. They were primarily red with black toes and featured a moderately high heel. She adjusted her hair a bit before grabbing her scroll and wallet, she then exited her room.

Ruby descended the hardwood stairs once more and got a bright smile on her face when she saw a very tired Yang sitting on a barstool, slowly spooning cereal into her mouth. Her back was turned to her dad who had fallen asleep on the couch. Ruby's bright smile turned to one that could only be described as pure happiness. " _Welcome to the Rose-Xiao Long household"_ Ruby thought to herself. She then proceeded to re enter the living room.

"Morning, Yang." Ruby said; sitting down on the loveseat once more.

"Yep." was all that she could muster.

Yang was definitely _not_ a morning person. Ruby sat in the loveseat sideways and dangled her feet over the armrest; she then started to watch the TV program her father had fallen asleep to. It was the most boring thing she'd ever seen. Luckily the doorbell rang to save her from her impending doom.

"I got it." Ruby said, getting up and making her way towards the door.

She opened the door and her face lit up when she saw who it was. There stood Liz in a red Sequoia Tree trench coat that was a perk of her rank. She wore it open because of the large belly she had been given from her pregnancy. Underneath the coat she wore a navy blue maternity shirt which was coupled with a pair of tan slacks that covered her black heels.

"Morning, Ruby." she said in her usual comforting voice.

"Morning Liz, come on in." Ruby responded; stepping out of the way.

Liz nodded thankfully and entered their house for what seemed like the thousandth time in the last three months. She saw Yang carrying her empty bowl of cereal into the kitchen.

"Hello, Yang." Liz said, a playful expression adorning her face.

"Hi, Liz." she said before disappearing into the kitchen.

Liz turned to Ruby who had an eyebrow raised, "We'll squirt her with water later."

Ruby laughed as she watched Liz move over to her sleeping dad.

"I also see things really don't change." she said stopping behind him.

She put both her hands next to his head and clapped loudly. Tiayang woke up immediately and jumped up ready to strike.

"Wake up, Tia. The world is waiting and so am I." Liz said a cheeky grin on her face.

Tiayang breathed a sigh, "Why did you wake me up, Liz?"

"Just to announce my presence and say 'hi'." she replied. "Now, if you need us Ruby and I will be out back."

With that Ruby and she went out the door and headed around the two story house. The ground was still muddy and wet from the thunderstorm from the night before; but it did little to frustrate the two women.

As they progressed Ruby noticed that on an old red picnic table, that Uncle Qrow bought them on a drunken whim, sat two separate hard cases; one black and the other light OD green.

"So I have a few new things for you today." Liz said folding her hands.

"Are you Santa Claus, Liz." Ruby joked.

Still walking, Liz turned around.

"I'll have you know that I am a hotter version of Mrs. Claus." she said.

Ruby smirked at her, "I can't argue with that; but I do know that if Mrs. Claus doesn't stop walking backwards she's going to fall on her ass."

"I couldn't agree with you more." Liz acknowledged; turning on her heel.

As they walked Ruby noticed how the sun reflected off of the natural red highlights in Liz's hair. It was one of the many traits that she possessed that made her stunningly beautiful; although Saffeara had her beat in all around beauty.

When they arrived at the table Liz placed her hands on the large black box and undid the latches on it.

"I figured we'd get your arm done first." Liz said; pulling out a black, forearm shaped, piece of metal.

Ruby nodded and outstretched her right arm. Liz carefully made sure that it slipped around her robotic hand and then fit securely around the unprotected sensors and circuits in her arm. When the two pieces of metal fit together fully its seems glowed with orange light; signifying that it was on securely. For the first time in three months her arm actually looked finished.

Liz then took out five long articulated pieces and started to slip them over Ruby's fingers.

"Since you'll be returning to the Sequoia Tree tomorrow I thought you could use something extra." Liz said; putting the last one on.

Ruby carefully examined the new pieces of armor on her robotic fingers. She noticed that their ends extended beyond the length of her finger tips which made them look like long black claws.

"The new armor plating is made of Nevermore feathers; so it's theoretically unbreakable." Liz mentioned.

"Cool, it's just like Black Feather." Ruby said; flexing her hand.

"Well we did use what was left of Black Feather to build that; but I think that's enough about your arm." Liz said, moving over to the second case.

Ruby watched her with a curious smile on her face as Liz undid the latches. Liz opened the box and Ruby's eyes went wide as she saw what was inside of it. Inside was a purple version of Crescent Rose neatly folded in the protective hard case.

"Ruby Rose I present to you Lunar Rose." Liz said; handing her the folded up sniper-scythe.

Ruby was in awe as she accepted Lunar Rose from Liz. She brushed her fingers across the purple paint and noticed that Lunar Rose was lighter than Crescent Rose had been previously.

"We rebuilt Crescent Rose using the same receiver and for the most part we stuck to your original design plan." Liz walked over and put her arm around Ruby. "The only major thing we changed was the weight of it."

"I love it, Liz. It's great." Ruby said; giving her a tight hug.

Liz happily accepted; but quickly ended it.

"So you want to try it out?" Liz asked, pulling a single .50 caliber round from her pocket.

Ruby pulled out her scroll and checked the time. It read 10:30 A.M.

"Yeah, I got thirty minutes until I have to meet Weiss so let's do it." Ruby said, a determined look on her face.

"Awesome." Liz said picking up Lunar Rose.

She handed it to Ruby, "I believe you should do the honors."

Ruby smirked and grabbed Lunar Rose. She then deployed it into its full scythe form and stuck the blade into the ground. She then retrieved the bullet from Liz and loaded it into the rifle. Ruby made note of the blue tip of the bullet; which confused her as she had never seen one like it before.

Liz knelt down next to Ruby, "Okay so there was one other thing we changed. While we were building this; a new round came out of Mistrali R&D and we rechambered Lunar Rose to use it."

Ruby got a worried expression on her face, "What does it do?"

"Shoot it and find out." Liz said.

Ruby had doubts about this; but decided to trust Liz. Ruby sighted in and ghosted her finger over the trigger. When she fired the loud shot rang throughout the forest and filled the women with adrenaline. This adrenaline allowed Ruby to perceive her world in slow motion and caused her to notice the first unique thing about this new round.

As it flew through the air, two stabilizing fins deployed and helped the bullet stay on track. When the round impacted the large evergreen tree Ruby shot at, it collapsed on itself and exploded; severing the tree's trunk.

"Holy crap." Ruby said as the large tree fell.

"I thought you would like that. I should be able to give you more ammunition for it tomorrow since it's hard to make." Liz said.

Ruby smiled, "Thanks Liz, I love it."

"I'm glad to hear that, and before I forget here's that special thing you wanted." Liz said; digging into her pocket.

Liz produced a small red box from her pocket and handed it to Ruby. Ruby took it with a grateful yet timid expression that quickly turned to one of confused, surprise as Liz tightened her grip on the box. Ruby looked at Liz.

"You better make it memorable, Ruby Rose." Liz said; a smirk on her face.

Ruby blushed and nodded furiously, "I-I will, ma'am."

"Good girl, now come here." Liz said; pulling Ruby in and hugging her.

It lasted for not much longer than a minute before liz pulled away.

"Now go knock her socks off." Liz said.

Ruby clutched the box close to her chest and grabbed Lunar Rose; folding it up and tucking it under her arm.

"Do you need a ride, Liz?" Ruby asked.

Liz smiled, "Ruby I walked from my Bullhead to get here; I can walk back just fine. Besides I want to stay here just a bit longer."

Ruby was about to protest, but closed her mouth and nodded. She figured Liz needed some privacy.

As Ruby walked back towards her house Liz took the time to admire the sun that gave light to all things. She watched the sun send its rays down to the earth below and noticed how pretty it made the forest when all the leaves reflected light off of themselves. A sudden wind blew and sent the ends of Liz's coat flying and her hair blew in every way behind her. With the wind came the smell of the forest; so crisp and clear that it made her lungs ache to get more. " _Summer, I've been given the sight to see all things and I see only good things for your daughter. I just wanted to say thank you for letting her be apart of my life; just like she was yours."_ Liz suddenly felt someone touch her shoulder; but when she turned around there was no one there. She smiled and turned back to looking up at the sky; only to be interrupted by a car horn. She turned to see Ruby sitting in the drivers seat. She waved at Ruby, who waved back before continuing out of the drive way.

As she drove towards downtown Vale, Ruby had no idea what was going on in the Commercial District. Saffeara was sitting on her couch in her usual white, strapless bra and panties; allowing her mind get lost in a new book. The book had a hard red cover and was about a horror author much like herself. In the book a boy who is a fan of the author accidentally runs into her and they quickly fall in love; but the boy soon finds out that the author is very psychotic and is also a serial killer.

Her eyes glided across the crisp white paper that was illuminated by the soft glow of one her lamps. Dye lay at her feet snoring happily as he dreamt; his scruffy grey fur a total mess. Suddenly Saffeara heard her bedroom window open with a slam. Dye growled as Saffeara's red eyes appeared over her book filled glowing anger. She heard the wind blowing in from outside and caused her to get up to shut it. The wood floorboards creaked underneath her weight as she made her way over to the bedroom. It was kind of weird; but this surprised her immensely. She only weighed 110 pounds and barely made an audible sound when she jumped or fell. She entered her room and noticed that several of her things had been knocked over. She squinted her eyes and went over to her window and shut it with a slam. Saffeara was extremely suspicious now; but the smell of cheap cologne clued her into who it might of been. Saffeara grit her teeth angrily and slammed her bedroom door angrily.

She moved back over to her couch and jumped over it; landing in the sitting position. She grabbed her book and started to read it once again. An aura of tense quiet descended on the room.

"You've got some balls to break into my apartment, Qrow." she said.

Saffeara's writing room's door opened and out came the signature look of Ruby's uncle.

Qrow smirked at her, "Sweetheart, women your age pay me to break into their houses."

"Wow, that's pretty bold considering you've never heard the words 'long' and 'hard' in the same sentence." Saffeara countered.

"Are you always _this_ cold hearted; and why are you naked?"

"I'm always this cold hearted to you; and do I need a reason to be naked in the privacy of my own home?"

"No, but you might want to cross your legs." Qrow said; pointing at her.

"Make me, bitch." Saffeara spat, her words laced with the most cruel venom.

Qrow raised his hands up, "Okay chill, I have some information on that Bullhead that was found."

Saffeara softened at his words, "Speak, and I might forgive you for breaking in."

"So we have reason to believe that it was carrying a veteran SF team. We also know for certain that they were from the Huntsmen division of the Atlysian military." he said.

Light reflected off of Saffeara's eyes as they widened with intrigue and disbelief.

"Okay Qrow, tell me the truth is that symbol on that Bullhead 'her' symbol?"

"I believe it is."

A small grin broke out across Saffeara's face.

"What do they want?" she asked next.

Qrow took a moment, " We believe they've come to kidnap Weiss."

Saffeara's face fell and her eyes went wide. She stayed quiet for a while before speaking again.

"Leave Qrow; pass what you've learned and any other details to Liz and Jozy." She said; standing up and walking over to the oak door of her Special Projects room.

"What are you going to do, Saffeara?" he asked, standing up as well.

Saffeara barely turned her head around, "I'm going to save them, Ruby and Weiss."

She then opened the door and let Dye in before disappearing behind the door herself. Qrow stood up and opened her front door and left his mind clouded with emotions of worry.

Meanwhile Ruby was sitting at a local cafe a nervous wreck. She wrung her hands under the table as she waited for Weiss to arrive. The cafe itself was clean and held a friendly atmosphere. People of all ages were enjoying its many treats and wide selections of books that the cafe had. However, none of these things could help Ruby's ailing mind. She took a drink of water and started look out the window, towards the sky which had become overcast. " _Oh, please don't rain; not today."_ Ruby thought; biting her lip anxiously. Suddenly she heard the bell on the door chime; and when she looked towards it she saw Weiss walking in. The heiress looked absolutely stunning in a light blue blouse and a miniskirt that had white and blue stripes. On her feet she wore a pair of white high heeled boots that had blue stripes on either side of them. Her long white hair cascaded down her shoulders and perfectly framed her stunning face.

Ruby felt her face heat up as she admired her girlfriend. It had only been a few days since she last saw Weiss; but even then she still felt like it had been years. A smile spread across Ruby's face as she banished her anxiety from her mind. She raised her hand and waved towards Weiss; who had already noticed the girl dressed in red. She waved back as her heels clicked across the tile floor.

"Morning Ruby." Weiss said, sitting down.

She leaned across the table and Ruby leaned in as well; making sure not to spill her water as she did. Ruby's lips met Weiss' and she immediately tasted her peppermint lip gloss.

She smiled into the kiss before pulling away, "Morning Weiss."

Weiss smiled back at her before someone started to whistle which caused both of them to blush heavily.

"So how have you been?" Ruby asked, tapping her metal fingers on the table.

Weiss slid her left hand across the table and intertwined her fingers with Ruby's metal ones. The cool metal on her warm hands sent an odd sense of safety through her being.

"I'm fine and you're nervous, Ruby." Weiss said, giving her hand a comforting squeeze.

Ruby looked like a deer in the headlights, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm perfectly fine."

"Ruby Rose, I've fought with you, played with you," Weiss lowered her voice. "I've kissed you, I've literally slept with you and I've also eaten with you. So I'm pretty sure I know when you're having a problem."

Ruby blushed and crossed her arms, "S-So?"

Ruby started to pout and this caused Weiss to smile at her adorable girlfriend.

"So what's wrong?" Weiss asked again.

"You'll find out later." Ruby replied.

Weiss cocked an eyebrow, "Oookay, anyway I see that Liz got your arm together finally."

"Yep, she did and it's so awesome." Ruby said; rubbing the new armored plating.

Ruby set her arm back on the table and intertwined her fingers with Weiss' again.

"Well I will admit it does look pretty cool." Weiss said; choosing to humor her. "So what do you have planned for the rest of the day?"

"Well, I figured we could do some shopping and then go to a fancy dinner at a local place I found; and after that we could visit our special place." Ruby replied.

Weiss almost fainted, " _You_ , Ruby Rose, want to go shopping?"

"I'm a girl too." Ruby countered.

"No, no I know that, it's just… nevermind let's go." Weiss said; fumbling over her words.

Ruby laughed as Weiss and she got out of their booth; she made sure to leave five lien for the tip.

Ruby and Weiss went from store to store in the business district, and bought whatever they wanted. Well it was more like whatever Weiss wanted; but Ruby was fine with it either way. They piled what they had bought into Ruby's car and made their way over to where they were going to eat dinner. At this point the sun had begun to set and its light was reflecting off the glass panels of the Commercial District's skyscrapers. Ruby and Weiss entered into a fancy restaurant where they had some of the finest dining in all of Vale; one of the many perks of being apart of the Sequoia tree's hierarchy, however they still had to pay for their meal.

They finished their night by driving up into the bluffs surrounding Vale and eventually came to an old abandoned railroad bridge that spanned a large ravine. The bridge itself was made of wood and its middle had fallen down a long time ago. Ruby and Weiss had found this place two years ago during a "partner only" training mission. Ruby pulled over and shut the car off. She put the red box in her vest pocket and got out of the car just as Weiss did. Both women proceed down the grassy embankment until they hit the abandoned railway. Weiss' heels really weren't suited for this kind of terrain so she left them inside Ruby's car.

"You sure you're not worried about splinters?" Ruby asked; holding the heiresses hand.

Weiss chuckled, "Compared to that one spike trap I stepped in a year ago; I probably won't even feel it.

Weiss' socked feet thumped on the wood railroad ties as Ruby's boots hit them. Both women came to the beginning of the fallen down bridge and moved towards the out lying metal parts of it where they sat down. To anybody else this was a worthless spot that Vale could have cared less about; but to Ruby and Weiss this place meant so much more. From here they could see the entire city framed by the setting sun and purple skies. Above the city was the entire Sequoia Tree fleet calmly looming overhead.

Ruby and Weiss sat down and watched the sunset together. Weiss lent her head on Ruby's shoulder; her soft hair hitting Ruby's skin like lightning. Ruby put her arm around Weiss' back and held her close.

"Did you here that Ozpin's thinking of having Yang, Blake, and I retake the year?" Weiss asked.

Ruby tightened her grip, "I heard and you know that it's an empty threat. Ozpin's lost too much and he's just trying to maintain a sense of order. Are you still having trouble?"

"I'm not really having trouble as I can't find any trouble. I've looked through countless books and none of them even speak about where to begin with Lightning Dust." Weiss said.

"You know Jozy's a mage too; maybe he could help you." Ruby suggested; turning Weiss towards her.

Weiss looked down, "I know; but the Schnee's have never been able to master Lightning and I want to do it myself so I can say I'm better than them."

Ruby kissed her forehead, "You _are_ better than them. Listen I'll ask Jozy if he'll help you tomorrow."

"Thanks, speaking of which today is your last day; and I know you don't want me in danger so…" Weiss trailed off.

"The thing is Weiss I want to know that you'll be safe and I can't guarantee that when we're with the Tree." Ruby said.

Weiss laughed a bit and cupped Ruby's cheek, "And you can guarantee my safety here? Ruby anything could happen here; but the thing I worry about is _you_ not coming back."

"I've thought about that a lot actually and I wanted to ask you a question because of it." Ruby said; withdrawing the box from her pocket.

Weiss saw the box and her ice blue eyes went about as wide as they had ever gone.

She let out a small chuckle, "R-Ruby what are you doing?"

Ruby paused for a moment the setting sun illuminating the brown highlights in her hair and her steel grey eyes. Ruby opened the box revealing a beautiful diamond engagement ring that was inlaid with rubies.

"Weiss Schnee will you _marry me_?" she asked.

The reality of the situation hit Weiss like a ton of bricks, and she was speechless. She could feel tears welling up as her hand covered her mouth. In this small instance the world seemed a lot more colorful and a lot less harsh. However, she soon figured that she should at least give her an answer when she saw Ruby get a worried expression on her face. She lunged forwards and cupped both of Ruby's cheeks this time and brought her in and kissed her. Ruby was surprised by this; but soon melted into the heiresses tinder show of affection. Weiss slowly pulled away but kept their foreheads together.

"Yes, I will." she said.

Ruby looked as if she misheard her; but soon accepted it.

"Really? That's fantastic." Ruby said, not knowing quite how to react.

Weiss smiled, "Do you know what this means, Ruby?"

"What?" Ruby asked; slipping the ring over Weiss' left ring finger.

"It means that soon I'll be known as Weiss Rose; your White Rose." Weiss said.

Ruby pulled Weiss closer, "I like it."

Both women stayed a little while longer to admire the sunset, until the sun was almost down.

"Its getting late do you want to head out?" Ruby asked.

Weiss nodded, "Yeah, I don't want to keep you up too late."

Ruby scoffed whilst standing up and helping her fiance up.

"I mean unless you, maybe want to stay at my place for the night." Weiss said; wiggling her eyebrows seductively.

Ruby's lips curled into a smile, "I may be able to entertain you for an hour or two."

"That'll work just as well I suppose." Weiss said; walking up to Ruby's car. "Oh crap, I forgot that I needed to buy Dust today."

Ruby opened the door for her, "That's okay we can stop on the way back."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, we have like four hours so we should be good."

"Okay." Weiss said; sitting down and slipping her heels on.

It took the two lovers around twenty minutes to get back to the Commercial District where there was a small Dust shop. Ruby pulled into the parking lot; but left the car on.

Weiss lent over the console and kissed Ruby, "I'll be back soon."

Ruby smiled and nodded as she got out of the car and shut the door. Outside the sun had disappeared and dark clouds had taken its place in the night sky. Lightning and thunder could be heard and scene overhead; a silent prelude to the oncoming storm. Ruby looked around her and noticed that there was no one around, _anywhere_. Ruby looked at the digital clock on her dashboard and was surprised to see that it was only 8:30. This raised an alarm in Ruby's mind because the Commercial District was almost never empty. Ruby was about to get out of the car and get Weiss; but when the power went out on the entire block Ruby's heart stopped. The only illumination on the entire block was her headlights that were peering into the now jet black Dust shop.

"Weiss?" Ruby asked softly, her face getting ever closer to the windshield.

With a thud a black figure jumped onto the hood of her car and punched his hand through the windshield. Ruby put both her arms up to shield her face from the broken glass; her normal arm getting sliced up in the process. The hand pushed its way passed her arms and grabbed her by the neck. It then ripped her out of the car sending glass everywhere. The male figure lifted Ruby into the air and threw her well passed the car and into the middle of the street. As her attacker moved towards her the wounds on her arm healed themselves.

"Remember us, Ruby?" the figure asked; kicking her in the stomach.

Three more figures emerged from a nearby alleyway; along with five more Atlysian SF soldiers her were holding Weiss. Ruby started to laugh as her attackers boot came to rest on her head.

"What's so funny?" he asked; lifting his boot of of her head and then bringing it back down _hard_.

Weiss started to struggle when she saw this and one of the soldiers back handed her sending her to the pavement. This stopped Ruby from laughing and she looked at her attacker out of the corner of her eye.

"You, Sun Wukong, are hilarious; because you think that we're alone." Ruby said; giving him a toothy grin.

On a skyscraper construction site stood two figures; one shorter than the other. and one as silent as death. The wind blew their black cloaks every which way as the smaller one lifted its arm and pointed towards Ruby and Weiss' location. This battle would begin with a silent gesture; a deadly threat from life itself.


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N: What's up guys? I'm back with another chapter of RWBY: Darkfall; and I will say that it was awesome to write this chapter. So thank you guys for all the support last chapter it is really appreciated; and I also wanted to say thank you to all my followers who don't leave reviews you guys are just as awesome as everyone else. Well that's enough from me let's get into the chapter.**

 **Please follow, favorite, and review;)**

"Death Eater"

 **One hour earlier…**

In musty atmosphere of her special projects room, Saffeara, sat at a rather small desk and waited for someone to pick up on the other side of her scroll. In her left hand she had a glass of the strongest alcohol she own and swished it back and forth. The rapidly melting ice hitting the glass on every individual swish.

"Hey this is Weiss Schnee, please leave a message or call Ruby; and if this is my dad then you should already know that I've blocked your number." the voicemail said.

Saffeara grit her teeth in frustration, "Weiss I've called both you and Ruby about a half dozen times by now; would it kill either of you to pick up your damn phone? CALL ME."

Saffeara threw her scroll down on the desk and held her head in her hands. It had been over thirty minutes since Qrow left and Saffeara had been trying to reach Ruby and Weiss ever since. Saffeara brought her legs up and held them close to her almost naked form; her silhouette illuminated by stream of light created by a crack in the door.

Suddenly her scroll went off and she practically jumped out of her chair at the sound.

She pressed the touch screen rather excitedly.

"Hello?" she asked.

Her face dropped as she realized it wasn't who she thought it would be.

"Have you heard anything from them?" Blake asked.

Saffeara's grip tightened around her scroll, "What do you think?"

"You too huh? Yang's about to tear the house down if she doesn't get any news soon." Blake said; looking over her shoulder and the anxious Yang.

"Blake, whatever you do; do not let her out of your sight, it'll only make it worse." Saffeara instructed her.

"I got it, Saffeara." Blake sighed. "Do you have any idea at all where they could be?"

Saffeara was about to give her answer; but stopped when the hissing sound started again.

"Blake I have an idea; but I need you to do something for me first."

"What is it?"

"I need you to destroy you're scroll." Saffeara said.

The line went silent for a moment; and made her question whether or not Blake was still there.

"Okay." she said.

Saffeara smiled when she heard this and took the scroll away from her ear. She held it out in front of her and could see a slight reflection in the glass. She crushed it and dropped it to the floor with a thud. " _Listen in on my calls will you?"_ she thought. Blake heard the line go dead and set her scroll down on the kitchen counter and grabbed a kitchen knife. She stabbed it roughly in the center of the screen and then proceeded to threw it in the trash. The commotion in the kitchen peeked Yang's curiosity, which lead her into the kitchen.

"Blake?" Yang asked.

Blake grabbed her purse and placed it on the counter, "Yang we need to leave. Can you get Bumblebee?"

Yang was about to protest; but stopped when Blake shot her a look that _dared_ her to argue.

Yang's tongue shriveled up in her mouth, "Yes, ma'am."

Blake smirked at her whilst walking passed her. Heels clicking on the floor as she went. Both women exited Blake's apartment at a brisk pace.

Saffeara turned towards the hissing sound that seemed to be hiding in the darkness of her special projects room. Saffeara leaned back on the dusty desk; her mouth contorting into a small smile. Her eyes were locked onto a particularly dark corner of the room.

She chuckled a bit, "You can sense what's going on out there can't you Oobleck."

Out of the dark corner emerged the person who used to be Bartholomew Oobleck. Over the past three months he had been locked in this room while Saffeara's hybrid blood transformed him into the perfect weapon. His eyes and mouth were still sewn shut and it looked that his skin had grown around the thread. On his body he wore a black robe that had sleeves that went all the way passed his hands; and its bottom almost covered his feet. He let out a hiss in response to Saffeara.

"If you want to help me then you'll need this." Saffeara picked up a mask off the desk and standing on her tippy toes slipped it onto Oobleck's head.

The mask itself was held on by one strap and covered his entire face like a shell. The front of it was painted like a giant mouth with the very center being an abyss of black; and on the sides were teeth. Oobleck lifted his hands up and felt the object that now covered his mutilated face. While he did this Saffeara quickly brought over a chair and got up on it. She grabbed his much longer green hair and tied it back into a ponytail; thus exposing his ears more clearly to the sounds of the world. Almost on cue thunder and lightning rumbled their building causing him to slowly turn his head towards the cause of the noise. Saffeara smiled when she saw this and touched the bottom of his mask.

"This is your new face wear it with pride, Oobleck; or should I call you by your _real_ name Centipede?" Saffeara said; breaking out into the laughter of a school girl.

Saffeara moved towards the door and opened it. She emerged into her living room and walked into her bedroom from there. She removed her bra and panties and grabbed her new black robe and slipped over her head. Inside were two draw strings that both had separate functions for the robe. While her hands were still inside she tightened the first draw string and tightened it around her hourglass figure. After that as done she slipped her arms through the sleeveless holes and then tightened the final drawing that was located just below her breasts.

She pulled her eared hood over her grey and red hair, "Now Winter, let's play."

 **Present**

Sun picked up Ruby and tightened his grip around her throat. She clutched his wrists as she fought to get air into her burning lungs. Ruby was lifted high enough that she could kick her feet back and forth with little resistance.

Weiss was sobbing at this point, "Sun let her go!"

"Shut up!" Neptune said; knocking her to the ground once more.

Rain started to fall with her and as she hit the wet ground her ivory hair was stained with mud as well as her clothes. She looked back at Neptune and saw cold dead eyes staring back at her.

"You know what Ruby? You _are_ right we aren't alone. Commander Bradley what do we do with her?!" Sun yelled to a nearby rooftop.

Ruby looked to a nearby rooftop and saw through blurry vision a fireball shooting from the top of the building. It landed between the two groups and brought with it a woman who looked to be in her early forties with purple hair and gold eyes. Ruby noticed that she wore a jetpack and had her own custom Atlysian rifle. Sun dropped Ruby to the ground and stiffened his form. Ruby felt air rush into her body which caused her to cough violently. Commander Bradley's boots thudded on the ground as she walked towards Weiss.

"Miss Schnee, it's been a while." Bradley said.

Weiss scoffed, "Bradley, I thought I smelled your rotting flesh; but I thought I was imagining things."

This act of rebellion earned her a kick to the face from Neptune. The strike split her lip; and gave her a bloody nose along with the daze it sent her in. Ruby tried to get up off the ground; but stopped when she heard Sun pull his gun-chuck on her. She grit her teeth as she stopped; rain water dripping from her hair and trailing down her face.

Bradley laughed, "How very charming, Ms. Schnee." she noticed the engagement ring, "Or is it 'Mrs.'? Weiss your sister will not be pleased."

She slipped the new ring off of Weiss' finger and tossed it to the ground, "It can be our little secret though."

She crushed the ring beneath her boot. All Weiss could do at this point was, to sit there and whimper; her hair was being used by Neptune to hold her up. However, Ruby was still conscious.

She laughed, "You are the biggest whore I've ever seen."

"Shut your mouth!" Sun said; his aim following her head as she stood up.

Ruby looked at him out of the corner of her eye, "You're are the second biggest whore I've seen. Tell me Sun how many STDs have you contracted by selling yourself out to _this_ Atlysian cunt?"

Sun was about to pistol whip her, but stopped when he heard Bradley walking towards her.

"Ruby Rose, I see that you have no idea who you're talking to; but I guess that's why Winter wanted you dead first." She said, pulling out a gold plated Atlysian pistol and placing its barrel in between Ruby's eyes.

Ruby cocked an eyebrow, "Do you really think, _you_ can kill me?"

"Not if I shoot you in the body; but I believe a shot to the head should kill you before your body could even send the signal that you were injured." she said; her finger flexing on the trigger.

Ruby stared at her in utter defiance; but her grey eyes soon widened as she looked passed Bradley.

"What the hell are you looking at?" Bradley asked.

Ruby didn't answer; but kept quiet instead allowing sound to answer the question. Everyone fell silent and they heard loud, heavy, footsteps approaching them. They turned to look down the street and noticed a tall figure appear from a nearby alleyway. The power had since returned to half the block; but whoever this was had chose to appear where their vision was obstructed. The Atlysians and Team SSSN took their weapons off of Ruby and Weiss and pointed them at their new adversary. The footsteps stopped when the figure enter the light. Everyone except for Ruby and Weiss took a step back when they saw his mask. Ruby took this opportunity to run over to Weiss; sliding next to her and wrapping her up with her arms. Weiss buried her head and Ruby's neck trying to cower into the person who made her feel safe. While she did this Ruby's eyes remained fixed on this strange figure who appeared to not be able to speak for some reason.

The light illuminated the white teeth on Centipede's mask like stars on the blackest night. His green ponytail blowing in the wind as the rain stopped.

"Um, okay? So what gives?" Neptune said; directing it towards Sage.

"I don't know. Hey who are you?!" he yelled.

He was met with grave silence.

"The hell? He's fuckin' with us." Scarlet said; pointing towards him with his saber.

"Don't lose your cool! He's no ordinary soldier so don't let your guard down." Bradley commanded.

Both groups put Centipede back in their sights.

"If he wants to play the strong silent type let him. Fire when ready." Bradley said.

"Yes ma'am." both groups acknowledged.

The started firing with automatic rifles and Team SSSN's custom weapons. The hail of bullets tore into Centipede; filling him with more than a few holes. Ruby shielded Weiss' ears from the gun fire and watched as copious amounts of black blood oozed from Centipede's wounds.

"What the hell; why is he still standing?!" One of the soldiers yelled; pulling the magazine from his rifle and loading a new one.

Neptune charged his railgun, "I'll make him drop."

He shot his weapon sending a large tungsten rod flying at speeds so fast it was hard to see clearly. The rod hit Centipede in the torso and ripped him in two; the rod going well passed his body and embedding itself in a building at the other end of the block.

"Nice shot man." Sun said.

Neptune smiled, "Thanks man; but it-"

He was cut off by an odd slurping sound coming from Centipede. Everyone looked over and noticed that his lower half had stood up on its own and his upper half was now connected to it by some black tentacles. His upper torso was then lifted back up onto his lower torso and both pieces fused together seamlessly.

"How interesting his lifeforce and aura seem to transcend most normal Huntsmen." Bradley said; as her men looked at Centipede with wide, fearful eyes.

Back on the construction site Saffeara was kicking her feet back and forth happily as she sat on a steel I beam. The wind blew the ears on her hood every which way; as the neon city lights danced on the surface of her white skin and made her eyes shine a deep blood red. She watched the commotion with her head resting on a bridge she made with her hands; her mouth forming a smile that could only conveyed as pure pleasure.

"Only thirty more seconds my child; and then you can dance." she muttered to herself; digging her chin deeper into the tops of her fingers.

The soldiers were now confused as to how to deal with this new threat and started loading fresh mags into their rifles as a silent prayer that somebody would figure out something.

Scarlet sighed, "If you want something done then you've got to do it yourself."

He pulled out his pistol and walked over to Centipede who was like a statue.

"Okay, you big bastard; let's see how you like this." He said; pointing his pistol right at Centipede's head.

 **Five**

"Hold on Scarlet there's something not right here." Sun said.

 **Four**

"Yeah Sun, there is something really not right here and it the fact that we have a giant here who refuses to die." Scarlet shot back.

 **Three**

"Hey man all I'm saying is that he hasn't attacked us yet; but we still shouldn't get too close to him." Sun said; trying to make him see reason.

 **Two**

"You got a better plan, Sun?" he asked.

 **One…**

Sun couldn't answer because everyone's attention was brought back to Centipede who had an alarm going off on him.

"What's that?" Scarlet asked; in time to see Centipede reached into his robe and withdrew a small, digital stop watch.

He clicked the top button silencing the machine; and then returned it to its place inside of his cloak. In a flash a black tentacle emerged from the bottom of his cloak and wrapped itself around Scarlet's arm that was holding the pistol. In one motion it ripped his arm off and chucked away. Scarlet screamed as blood poured to the wet pavement creating a weird watery mix. Centipede grabbed his head and broke his neck; turning it a full 180 degrees. His life less body fell to the ground; his death happening so fast that his teammates had barely registered it.

"Fire, and don't stop!" Bradley yelled; pulling out her own rifle.

Everyone started firing again; the burning scent of used Dust filling the air. Centipede covered his body with the tentacle; which was apparently bulletproof. Two additional tentacles sprouted from his back and impaled the two Atlysian soldiers to Neptune's right. They were lifted high in the air as they screamed in agony; and were thrown at Sun and Neptune at incredible speeds. Each tentacle acting like a giant muscle; much like a tongue. The two Huntsmen had no time to react to the bodies being hurled at them and were knocked to the ground as a result. Hearing the two get immobilized for the time being, Centipede, used the tentacle, that was currently being used as a shield, to go after Commander Bradley.

Bradley noticed the tentacle shift its position and suddenly stretch towards her at immeasurable speed. She quickly engaged her jetpack and flew into the air showering her previous position with neon sparks. Centipede's tentacle impacted the pavement with such a force that it created a hole. He looked up towards where he believed Bradley to be and sent two more tentacles after her; however he was evaded by her skilled flying skills. At this point Sun and Neptune had begun to remove the dead bodies that were currently holding them down.

Neptune was the first to get free and he started charging his railgun once again. Saffeara noticed this from her vantage point; and squinted her eyes to allow her smile to show her teeth.

"What do we have here?" she asked herself.

Sun got the body off of himself and looked over to see Neptune taking careful aim at Centipede's head. Sun observed waht Neptune couldn't see; Centipede knew that Neptune was looking at him.

"Neptune wait!" Sun yelled.

It was too late the tungsten rod flew out of his railgun and flew straight at Centipede's head, however it would never make contact as the tentacle that had went after Commander Bradley previously came back to life and caught the tungsten rod in mid air; its massive amount of momentum being absorbed into the grotesque blackish green appendage. Neptune lowered his rifle slowly before dropping it to the ground; a horrified look on his face. He turned to Sun tears running down his cheeks.

In that moment Sun didn't see the buildings, the streets, the sky, or even the battle. He only saw Neptune; and white. Memories of the two ran through his head from the day they met to the day before this one, and before he knew it he was crying too. He was brought back to reality when the tungsten rod stabbed Neptune in the back of the head; the length sticking out of his right eye.

When Saffeara saw this she hit the metal I beam she was sitting on in a fit of laughter.

"Mwhahahahahahah he looks like he's having so much fun… I guess it's my turn." she said; standing up.

Ruby held Weiss close. Trying to shield her from the world happening around her. She wanted to feel sorry for Team SSSN; but in all honesty she couldn't. They had hurt Weiss. Some would argue that they had het her as well; but her body could heal instantly Weiss' couldn't.

Sun moved closer to the now dead Neptune and pulled the rod out of his head. He lifted Neptune up and set him in his lap; his mutilated face in full view of everyone around him. Sage saw this and gripped his greatsword with both hands.

"Damn you!" He yelled; running at Centipede who was still trying to catch Bradley.

He came up behind Centipede with the full intention of, at the very least, cutting him in half again just to slow him down. However, Centipede turned his head 180 degrees as to look at Sage. This even caught Ruby's attention, " _Does he not have bones?"_ A fourth tentacle burst from Centipede's back, tearing his robe, and going for Sage. This new tentacle was much different than the others in several ways. The first one was the fact that it was bright red and glowed like the angriest of beasts. The second thing about it was that it was covered in teeth; and appeared to have an uncontrollable hunger. It stabbed itself into Sage's stomach; before sucking out every ounce of nutrients his muscular body had. Sage fell to the ground and his body turned into a pile of dust.

Commander Bradley saw this and grit her teeth angrily as she realized all of her men, except for Sun, were now dead. She flew high up to the point where his tentacles could not reach her. Centipede sensed that she was out of reach and looked in her general direction as all of his tentacles retracted back into his body.

Bradley chuckled, "Not so good at range are you big boy?"

She aimed down her rifle's scope and put the origin point of her crosshair on his head. Ruby and Weiss looked up towards Commander Bradley; and noticed that streaking across the sky was a red comet. However, it was becoming very apparent that it was heading straight for Bradley; who suddenly lost the picture in her scope to a red light. She was hit with the force of a truck and was sent flying to the ground. She was disoriented at first; but the sound of a child laughing quickly brought her back to her senses. She looked up to see Saffeara standing atop the building she had previously been on.

"Even Winter Schnee could've dodged _that_ one my dear Commander Bradley! You just _love_ taking a hit don't you?" Saffeara yelled down to her; her mouth contorting into a grin that almost seemed too large.

Bradley looked up towards Saffeara her eyes filled with resentment at the taunt.

"You must be the Sequoia Tree officer in charge of this sector, Saffeara Vain." Bradley conjectured.

Saffeara chuckled, "I'm whatever you think I am; but you Atlysians wouldn't understand _anything_ about choice."

"You mock us; but if I remember right the Atlysians were the first ones to beat you. Tell me how did it feel when Mistress Winter removed your ears; or how about when she made you kill your younger sister, Haruka Vain?" Bradley asked; forming a sadistic smile.

Ruby's expression changed to one of shock when she registered what Bradley said. She had always heard from the rest of the Sequoia Tree that Saffeara had lost her ears very early on; but what was just said made her heart break.

Saffeara, however still wore a smirk on her face as she listened to Bradley. She jumped down to the street without even a sound. Her eyes were still glowing neon red as she stared at Bradley.

"So what was your goal with that question? Make me cry? Immobilized me? If that was what you were going for you should know something." Saffeara boosted over to her; leaving a red trail in her wake. " _I'm done crying."_ she said; grabbing Evercaster off her back at lightening speed.

Bradley's eyes went wide as she saw the razor sharp blade coming for her . She threw her rifle in the air and back flipped out of the way. Sparks flew as Evercaster sliced through the rifle cleanly. Bradley grabbed her gold plated pistol and was about to shoot Saffeara; but did not anticipate her to split its blades and shoot her with a bolt of electrical aura. The blast threw her back some feet and broke a majority of her ribs. However, her chest plate kept her from being killed instantly. Bradley gasp for air as she pulled what remained of her chest armor off.

"Damn you, Magneta." she cursed; between labored breaths.

She stood up, breathing heavily and looked at Saffeara who was looking back with a deadly expression.

"If you want to fight like that; then I guess I should even the odds." she said; instinctively reaching for her pistol again.

Her hand came up empty, however and as she started to look for it she was shot in the leg by a small Nevermore feather; pinning her leg to the ground. She screamed in pain as she crouched to the ground and clutched her impaled appendage. She looked over to the direction it had come from and saw that Ruby had sprouted smaller versions of the Nevermore wings she had back in Amity Colosseum. Her eyes had also changed to being pitch black with gold rings outlining her pupils. The black wings curled around Weiss who was pointing the pistol at Bradley. Saffeara smiled when she saw the image in front of her, " _Welcome back, Ruby Rose."_

Weiss aimed Bradley's pistol; at Bradley's own head. The pistol itself was old, almost an antique, so the sights were hard to use; but at this range she really didn't need them.

"Fuck you." she muttered; squeezing the trigger and sending a round down range.

The round hit Bradley in the forehead and once inside exploded making her death a certainty. The whole area fell silent, as the rest of the blocks lights came back on to reveal the full extent of the battle. All around them were puddles upon puddles of blood mixed with rainwater; it glowed an eerie blackish-red when the light hit it. With the lights back on, Saffeara, noticed Weiss' destroyed engagement ring lying on the ground. The diamond itself was not destroyed by any means; but the rubies and white gold band were completely destroyed. Some rubies had been turned to powder by the force at which they were crushed. Saffeara bit the side of her lip as she knelt down to pick up the poor ring. She made a silent note of how the ring still shined even though it was so badly damaged.

Saffeara held it tight in the palm of her left hand; before proceeding over to Ruby and Weiss.

"I don't suppose you can fly with those wings, can you?" Saffeara said; her smile growing rapidly.

Ruby stood up slowly, helping Weiss to her feet as she went, "I should be able to; but I've never really tried."

Saffeara nodded and turned to Weiss, "How are you?"

"Physically my face hurts. Mentally I guess I'm okay." Weiss said; pointing towards her nose that was turning purple.

"I see, will this make it any better?" Saffeara asked; opening her hand to reveal Weiss' newly repaired engagement ring.

Weiss, being very careful of her lip and nose, covered her mouth in shock. Everything on the ring was right where it should have been, even the rubies that should have been crushed.

"It's a start." Weiss said; wrapping her arms around the shorter woman.

Saffeara grunted as Weiss hugged her. Mostly because it was mostly a head hug since she was so short. It lasted for a few more minutes; before Saffeara had enough of the embrace.

"Okay, you can let go of my head now?" Saffeara asked; trying to be as polite as she could.

Weiss let go of her and grabbed the ring. She then carefully put it back in its rightful place on her left hand. She then walked back over to Ruby.

"I think your nose is broken." Ruby said; wiping away another drop of blood as gently as she could.

Weiss smirked as best she could with her split lip, "Ruby you're a detective."

Saffeara laughed at Weiss' sarcastic remark; which made Ruby pout all the more. Centipede heard the commotion amongst the women; but stood there silently.

"Ruby take Weiss home and get her cleaned up. I'll handle the rest of the mess with the Tree." Saffeara said; recovering first.

"Thanks, but what about Sun?" Ruby asked.

They four of them looked over to Sun who was trying his best to crawl away.

"We got him. Centipede!" Saffeara yelled.

Immediately one of his tentacles shot out from him and caught Sun by the leg. It drug him back towards them; his fingernails dragging on the ground, trying to get away. Centipede lifted him in air and suspended him upside down in front of them.

"You stupid damn monkey. You should know that you can't run from _me_." Saffeara said; ruffling his hair.

She then turned back to Ruby and Weiss, "I'll take charge of him. He'll be a key asset in finding Winter Schnee." Saffeara put her hands behind her back. "Until then I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow, Ruby."

"Yep." Ruby said; picking Weiss up bridal style.

This startled the heiress who insulted Ruby as she sprouted her wings and flew off into the starry night sky. Saffeara waved until she lost sight of them.

She turned to look at Ruby's car, "She left her car here, I guess we'll just have it towed."

Centipede just looked towards her; unable to speak. She climbed up on top of the car and sat on it.

"Why am I even talking to you? You can't even talk." Saffeara said.

A hiss came out of Centipede.

"Fine you can hiss." Saffeara acknowledged.

Centipede stood there for a few more minutes still holding Sun by the foot. He eventually turned to Saffeara and let out a long hiss.

"I called Kale right before we came here so we probably have to wait another hour before he gets here." Saffeara said.

Hearing this Centipede hit Sun's head on the pavement and knocked him out. He then slowly walked over to Saffeara; casually dragging Sun behind him. He leaned up against the car and started to wait with Saffeara.

Thirty minutes later Ruby and Weiss had arrived at the heiresses high end apartment; and entered via the balcony. They were now in the bathroom bandaging their wounds, well Weiss' wounds. Ruby had her fiance sit on the toilet while she wet a rag and gently cleaned the blood off of her.

"So when did you learn about your wings?" Weiss asked; trying to distract herself from the sharp pain resonating in her nose and lips.

Ruby wiped the last of the blood off of her chin, "A few weeks ago when I was out training near my house."

"I can't imagine what it was like." Weiss admitted.

Ruby laughed a bit, "I was scared at first; but when I called Liz and told her she said, 'That it was always a part of my Primal Semblance, and that I should get more accustomed to having them out'."

"Does it hurt when they come out?"

"It used to; but now I barely feel it." Ruby said; hanging the rag up. "Hey wanna see another trick I learned?"

"Not if it involves another thing bursting out of your body… I have expensive carpets Ruby." Weiss replied; giving her a challenging smile.

Ruby laughed, "Relax, this will make you better."

She cupped Weiss' cheek; and the heiress felt a sudden surge of power as Ruby's semblance healed her in no more than a second.

When Ruby let her go Weiss jumped up and saw that her broken nose and lip were now good as new.

"How did you?" Weiss asked.

Ruby chuckled some more, "When Liz was helping me get used to my new arm she also taught me how to control my semblance more effectively."

"Well I guess in that case, I can let myself get hurt more often." Weiss joked

"Please don't say that." Ruby said; her tone serious.

"It was a joke, Ruby," Weiss put her hand on Ruby's right shoulder and watched her flinch. "You're a liar! You are sore from your wings!" Weiss said; overreacting a bit.

Ruby was embarrassed that her she had been found out so easily.

"Okay, I may have brought out my wings a little too fast and pulled a muscle; but I'm fine and it'll be healed in a hour or two." Ruby admitted, trying to defuse the situation.

However, this only lead to her being dragged out of the bathroom and into Weiss' living room. The room itself wasn't too big; but it wasn't necessarily small either. It had spruce wood floors and was painted white, logically, on the walls hung several priceless paintings that Ruby could only guess the price of. In the top left corner of the room was the front door that had a bronze coat tree next to it. Her bedroom was behind a door located top right corner of the room; and in the bottom right corner of the room sat her kitchen. In the center of the room was a small wooden coffee table that was flanked an Ivory colored couch. Above that hung a crystal chandelier that was currently dazzling with the moonlight coming through the windows.

"Sit." Weiss ordered; pointing to the couch.

Ruby complied figuring that arguing with her was a death sentence. She sat down on the soft leather of the couch and waited for Weiss; who was turning on a nearby lamp. When the lamp came on it glowed a bright orange hue and blinded Ruby for a second before her eyes adjusted. She then heard Weiss' bare feet softly thump their way over to her.

"Take your vest off." Weiss ordered; sitting behind her.

"B-But Wei-"

"Oh for godsakes Ruby; it's nothing I haven't seen already." Weiss said; still a little mad about Ruby lying to her.

Ruby squeaked a little before slowly pulling down the zipper and pulling her vest off. Weiss took it from her and set in on the coffee table. When she turned back to Ruby she found the girl was covering her chest with a slight dusting of pink on her face. Weiss felt her own face heat up.

"Y-You're such a kid." Weiss said; hiding her blush.

Ruby laughed, "You know you _can_ call me cute."

Weiss stayed silent; but put her hands on Ruby's shoulders and started to massage them. Ruby stiffened her back at the sudden surge of pain; but quickly relaxed as the knots in her muscles started to loosen.

"Wow, you should really have me do this more often." Weiss said; astounded by how tense Ruby's muscles were.

Ruby flinched a little, "Sorry, I kind of forget sometimes that I'm not with the Tree right now."

Weiss stopped massaging and wrapped her arms around Ruby's stomach and felt the muscles that still amazed her.

Setting her chin on Ruby's right shoulder, she whispered into her ear, "It's okay, I'm here and we're safe here. I love you, Ruby Rose."

Ruby let out a contented sigh; and removed Weiss' arms so that she could turn her whole body towards Weiss. She cupped Weiss' face and planted a light kiss on the heiresses lips. Weiss quickly reciprocated; turning the light kiss into a more passionate one. Ruby slowly moved her hands down and started to lift Weiss' shirt up.

Weiss broke the kiss, "Hold on, Ruby, before we continue I need you to promise me something."

"What?" Ruby asked; her voice ragged.

"Promise me that you'll live no matter what; because if you don't I'm going to take this ring you gave me and I'm going to sell it. Then I'll stay single for the rest of my life." Weiss said.

Ruby was shocked by just how much she meant to Weiss; but felt incredibly honored at the same time.

"Well I guess I'm coming home alive then." She pressed her head to Weiss'. "Because someone as beautiful as you should never be alone."

Ruby kissed Weiss again and started to trail kisses down Weiss' neck. It didn't take long for the two of them to end up in Weiss' bedroom; however in the morning Weiss would find that Ruby had left before she woke up. She was comforted though by a small letter Ruby had left her; and took courage in the fact that Ruby would try her damnedest to survive.

The Sequoia Tree's flagship sat 15,000 above Vale and was flanked by three other Capital Airships patrolled inside of the cloud layer that they were hidden in. Below them at 10,000 feet was the rest of the fleet quietly looming over the Agricultural and Business Districts. Inside the flagship Jozy, Liz, and Tyler were sitting around a large holographic table; that showed the movements of the Sequoia Tree's forces on the BD continent. Kale, Saffeara, and Orchid were dealing with the after effects of last night's ambush; and Ruby had not arrived yet.

"So in light of recent events, the White Fang matter has slipped our attention; but new signs show that they are resisting our forces and slowing them done on their march north." Tyler said; pointing to a specific region on the map.

"It's hard to believe that after all these years people are still loyal to the White Fang. I guess freedom and equality aren't enough for some people." Liz said; resting her head in her hand.

"It may not be _that_ simple. Kale mentioned he ran into a fourteen year old girl who was a new recruit." Tyler clarified.

Jozy reclined back in his chair, "We've wasted too much time in Vale. I'll go exterminate the White Fang, and kill Adam Taurus. After that our troops can proceed to Atlas."

Jozy stood up and made his way over to the door.

"There's only one problem though; we have reports that Raven Branwen is supporting them." Tyler said.

Jozy stopped in front of the door; his white hair reflecting the light coming from the holotable.

"The plan doesn't change." He said; leaving the room.


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: Hey guys sorry for the delay; I had a tone of school work to do and barely got any time to write. I am happy with how this chapter turned out though; and I hope that you guys will join me in the continuation of this next chapter. Please follow, review and favorite to show your support for this story:)**

"Sisters of old"

White light streamed through Yang and Blake's shared bedroom window. Yang's lilac eyes were directly hit by the sunlight; which forced them open. Yang groaned as she tried to shield her eyes from the intrusive light with her pillow. She felt Blake shift slightly and turned over to see her girlfriend in only a black t-shirt that went down to her thighs. Yang also made note of how odd it was to actually see Blake sleeping in for once. Yang turned back over; but quickly realized her attempt at getting more sleep was futile. She removed the covers off her body and revealed that she had gone to bed wearing only a yellow sports bra and a pair of plain yellow panties.

She sat up and ran her hand through her extremely tangled hair. She then looked around the room which brought back memories of the previous night. After Blake had made her leave; they fled from downtown Vale and made their way to back to Yang's house where they explained what was going on. Taiyang quickly told them about an old abandoned log cabin that was a mile down the road; and hid Bumblebee in the family garage. Yang stood up and slowly covered Blake with the blanket; who gladly accepted it in her unconscious state. She bent over and kissed Blake's cheek before grabbing a purple robe and wrapping it around her body. As she left the room the ends of Blake's lips curled up into a smile; the sensation of Yang's show of affection infiltrating her dreams.

Yang's bare feet thumped on the cherry wood floors as she made her way down the hall. This house had apparently been owned by a wealthy family who used this as a vacation home until their two daughters ran away from home. " _I think they were named, Taim or Vangs."_ Yang thought absent mindedly. She came to a large balcony that overlooked the living room and kitchen of the cabin. It was very large and open; but was covered in dust. There was little furniture; yet there was enough to make it livable, even though most of it was covered in plastic. Yang worked her way down to the kitchen where she opened a box of cereal from the groceries they had bought before they had arrived there. She then found a bowl in the cupboard and washed it out before putting the cereal in it. " _How do you eat cereal without milk?"_ Yang asked herself in all seriousness. She slowly grabbed a piece of cereal and threw it into her mouth; the sugar taste spreading over her tongue. She shrugged her shoulders and went over to the plastic couch and sat down. It was around that time that she heard Blake come down the stairs. She turned to see her girlfriend rubbing the sleep out of her eyes; her cat ears stood at attention.

"Morning, Blaky." Yang said; a smile spreading across her face.

"Mmhmm." was all that Blake could muster as she sat down next to Yang.

She put her head on Yang's shoulder, still half asleep. Her cat ears went flat against her head as Yang reached her hand up and started to scratch between them.

"Do you think Ruby's alright?" Blake asked.

"If anything absolutely bad happened to her I think we would have found out by now." Yang said; her words bleeding raw hope.

Blake sensed this and played along, "You're probably right."

Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door; cause both women to freeze. Yang carefully set her bowl down on the table and stood up with Blake. As the knocking continued they stealthily went over to their bags and grabbed Ember Celica, and Gambol Shroud. Yang manually cocked Ember Celica as quietly as she could; while Blake changed Gambol Shroud to its pistol form. Both women pointed their weapons at the door and waited for who they assumed was an enemy, to force the door open. However, the knocking suddenly stopped. Both of them looked at each other before they heard a voice behind them.

"You know it's kind of rude to not open the door when your home." the familiar, deep voice said.

Both turned around to see Jozy standing behind them; stoic as ever.

"Sorry we didn't… woah." Yang said; noticing Jozy's new mask.

The mask was metal and molded itself perfectly with his upper and lower jaw. Where his mouth would be there were pearlescent white teeth that retracted themselves each time he spoke. It also appeared to be wrapped around his neck; but the view was partially blocked by the collar of his toggle coat. The only definite way of securing the mask to one's head that Yang could see was a belt that came from where the mask curved into a smile; and went above his ears to wrap itself around his head, the two ends would then most likely meet up in the middle. However, this was only a theory as Yang could not see the back of his head; and what she could see was somewhat covered by his scraggly white hair.

"Did you get a new mask?" Yang asked; deactivating Ember Celica.

"Yes I did; and I thought it would be safer if I wore it here after last night's incident. Ruby's fine by the way; she misses you all and can't wait till she comes back home." Jozy said; putting the women's fears to rest.

Both felt the relief wash over them, "That's wonderful."

"It is; but now Yang I need to talk to you about something." Jozy said; stepping forward.

Yang was confused by this; "O-Okay, what about?"

"It's about your mother." he said.

Yang's eyes went wide as she broke out in a cold sweat. _This_ was not her morning.

Ruby walked through the whitewashed corridors of the Sequoia Tree's flagship looking for where she would be staying. She had on her typical vest and combat pants; but had a new red cloak on that Weiss had made for her, the original had been retrieved by Weiss who had placed it in a dresser at her apartment for safe keeping. Her new cloak looked almost exactly the same as her old one except for one small detail. Weiss had sewn in black animal fur along the inside of the hood. This was merely for the fact that when it was cold her ears would freeze. Also on her back was an old Beacon backpack that was holding a wide range of stuff like her laptop, toothbrush, and underwear. Finally she was holding a large duffle bag that contained Lunar Rose, a ton of ammunition that had been gifted by Liz, and her other clothes.

Now she was just hoping that she wouldn't get lost. In her metal, right hand she was holding an identification card that not only told her room location; but also gave her access to certain areas in accordance with her rank. " _They could have got a better picture of me though."_ Ruby thought; puffing her cheeks out a bit. She went around a corner with her head still looking at her room number. She only looked up to luckily see her room number at the end of the hallway. She double checked the number before slipping the card into her pocket; and opening the door. As she entered the room her eyes went wide as she saw that their were two beds instead of just one. She also heard the shower running inside the bathroom to her left.

"They never told me I would have a roommate." Ruby muttered; setting her stuff down on the left bed.

She heard the water turn off; which sent butterflies to her stomach immediately.

She took a deep breath, "I hope they're nice."

The door opened; and Ruby's face lit up as she saw Saffeara walk out. However, her cheeks reddened when she realized that she was completely naked as usual. Saffeara looked up and noticed the younger girl staring at her. She froze not expecting to see her so soon; but she slowly tried to cover herself with her arms.

"U-Um, hi Ruby I, uh, didn't think you would be here so soon." Saffeara said; her face turning extremely red.

Ruby was extremely flustered, "It's okay, Saffeara, you can, uh, get dressed."

Ruby moved back, even though she really didn't need to, and let Saffeara move passed her. Saffeara knelt down and quickly grabbed her white one piece bra; and a matching pair of lace panties. Slipping them on quickly she turned to face Ruby; her hands behind her back, face still red.

"I take it the version of 'dressed' you wanted was more covered; but I can't do that since my robe is being washed." Saffeara said; sounding like a child that had just got in trouble.

Ruby got a worried expression, "It's okay, Saffeara, I think if I saw you covered up all the time; I would think that you were sick."

Saffeara perked up, "Thanks, Ruby."

As she said this her red eyes caught the fluorescent light in the room; and caused them to glow. Ruby smiled when she saw this; secretly admiring Saffeara's best feature.

"Hey, Saffeara why were you so flustered; I mean you usually are pretty, well flirty and upbeat when you're around me." Ruby asked.

"Heh, sorry about that; you just cought me off guard and I typically don't like to bare _all_ of it to somebody. I do have some dignity after all." Saffeara replied; sitting down on her bed, kicking her feet back and forth.

"That makes sense, I guess." Ruby said; sitting down on her own bed.

Saffeara shot her arm out and blazing speed, and pointed at Ruby.

"You have some explaining to do." Saffeara said; her playful smirk returning.

Ruby cocked an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

Saffeara scoffed, "You got engaged yesterday; and you didn't tell anybody."

"I-I did tell my dad." Ruby said; quietly.

"No, that doesn't count; you're suppose to tell _him_." Saffeara laughed.

Ruby had a light shade of pink on her face, " Yeah, I guess that's true."

"So how was it? Was is romantic; or straightforward?" Saffeara asked; practically drooling.

"I think it was romantic." Ruby said; rather timidly.

Saffeara pursed her lips, "Ruby, you don't have to be so shy about this; I mean, you should be proud to talk about it."

"I am, but it's just-"

",weird to think that something so life changing is going to happen so soon." Saffeara interrupted; finishing her sentence for her.

Ruby blinked a few times, "Yeah, but how did you know that?"

"You forget I'm also an author, Ruby, I have to watch people in order to understand them and relate to them; and you aren't the only woman who's said that before." Saffeara said; giving Ruby a comforting smile.

"Thank you." Ruby said; feeling encouraged by her words.

Saffeara rested her back against the wall, "You're welcome."

The conversation ended at that point; and Ruby started to unpack her stuff. She slipped her duffel bag under her bed, choosing to unpack it later. She then opened her bag and put her underwear in the bottom draw of her shared dresser; luckily Saffeara didn't have too many clothes.

"Cute." Saffeara said; noticing a particular set of underwear.

Ruby cocked an eyebrow and looked at the underwear. It featured a red bra that was covered in black lace; and panties that were black with red lace.

"Thanks, Weiss bought them for me." Ruby responded; putting them away.

Saffeara chuckled, "I will admit that she does have a sense of fashion."

Ruby smiled as she finished putting her things away. She sat down on her bed; and pulled out her laptop. She started typing and Saffeara suddenly heard the opening to a show.

"What are you watching?" she asked; moving over and sitting next to Ruby.

"It's a show about a guy who loses his whole family and then finally his memories. However, as he starts to notice something's missing his memories start gradually coming back to him as she meets people from his past." Ruby explained.

"Sounds interesting; what episode are you on?" Saffeara then asked.

"Episode one; I really haven't had the time to watch it." Ruby admitted.

Saffeara shifted awkwardly, "Do you mind if I watch it with you?"

"Not at all." Ruby said; her lips curving into a smile.

Saffeara got up quickly and grabbed a pillow from her bed and sat it up against the wall; and Ruby did the same. Both women quickly got lost in a world of someone else's imagining.

Meanwhile Jozy and Yang were sitting inside of a Sequoia Tree Bullhead; speeding towards the BD continent. Yang was hunched over deep in thought as Jozy's breathing was the only noise that resounded in the airtight space. The loud inhaling and exhaling was due to the fact that Jozy's mask was actively filtering his air every time he took a breath. Yang clenched her gloved hands as the thoughts of her mother invaded her mind.

"Hey, Jozy?" she asked; not turning her head.

Jozy turned towards her; his white hair glowing like a ghost in the dark.

"How did you know my mom?" she asked next.

Jozy turned away from her, "I was a first year in Beacon when your mother was a fourth year."

"Was she any different than she is now?"

"You never had a mom, Yang." Yang lifted her head up; eyes wide. "Raven, was never the 'care for other people type' and that was why Liz and she had such a bitter rivalry."

"I never would have guessed that Liz would be the one to get in somebodies face about something." Yang admitted.

Jozy's eyelids lowered, "Yeah, let's just say it never got fully resolved; and I was actually kind of happy it didn't."

"Why?"

"Because, Liz was not the strongest person back then; and she needed to be taught to stand up for what she believed in. Plus watching Raven's face turn to an expression of bewilderment as Liz slapped her was also a plus." Jozy said.

Yang laughed at the thought.

"You were really worried about Liz back then weren't you?" she asked; her smile having returned.

"Yep, but I still worry about her though." he replied.

Yang chuckled, "I would expect you to."

There was a lull in the conversation for an extended period of time as the pilot told them that they were nearing their destination. Jozy stood up and stretched his legs; his black toggle coat hiding the majority of his body.

"So what's the plan?" Yang asked; her being exploding with anticipation.

"We're going to kill every single White Fang soldier between us and Adam Taurus. When I've been given a straight shot to him, you're going to go and find Neo and fight her; but don't kill her." Jozy ordered.

"Wait Neo's here; and where is my mom in all this?" Yang asked trying to process this information.

"Your mom will most likely be with Adam; and yes Neo's here and she is not on your side." Jozy replied; locking the teeth on his mask in place.

"What if I fight her and I lose; or worse can't keep from killing her?" Yang asked; her confidence failing.

Jozy turned fully towards her, "Yang, when I fought Ruby I purposefully cut her arm off knowing that it wouldn't kill her and she's still alive isn't she? Another thing about you that I've noticed is that in the mists of a fierce battle your emotions take control; and that is why you lose."

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Emotions have no place on the battlefield; thus if you start to lose don't get angry. Instead just think and observe what she does." Jozy advised turning towards the door.

"Five minutes until touchdown." the pilot voiced over the intercom.

Yang stood up and moved towards the bay door that Jozy was currently looking at.

"Hey, if I die will you cry?" she asked.

"You'll find out someday; but not today." he replied, stoically.

Suddenly the bay doors opened and showered them in sunlight; temporarily blinding them. Both of them recovered quickly and jumped to the ground. They then broke out into a full sprint heading for the treeline. The Bullhead lifted itself and took off right as they disappeared into the underbrush.

The two of them drudged through the humid rainforest; which was covered in rainwater as a thunderstorm had blown through the previous night. Yang wiped the sweat off her brow; her yellow tank top had a large sweat stain on the front of it. She started wiping the back of her neck as she pulled a water bottle from her utility belt. As she took a drink she felt Jozy tap her shoulder. When Yang turned she saw Jozy holding a black pony tail band out towards her.

"Trust me, in _this_ climate your hair will kill you before the enemy does." he said; to reassure her.

"Thanks; but why do you have one of those?" Yang asked; pulling her hair back into a pony tail.

Jozy chuckled a bit, "I live with both Liz and Orchid; and I've learned that they _love_ to lose those damn things at the most inopportune times."

Yang smirked, "Aren't you hot it that wool coat?"

"I don't really get hot. Plus I'm using ice Dust to cool myself off." Jozy replied; pushing his way through a thick bush.

They came out on a steep cliff that overlooked a unique section of forest that was colored in a rust brown. In the center of this epic landscape was an old dilapidated logging town, that featured a large warehouse and several smaller building. It even had a railway system that appeared to run deeper into the jungle.

"Twenty years ago a wealthy Mistrali company tried to colonize this continent in order to harvest these unique trees. However, this did not pan out as you can tell; the Grimm levels in this area were far too high, and the results were… messy." Jozy explained.

Yang looked around, "But we haven't seen any Grimm since we landed."

"Very good, Yang. That is why the logging town is the White Fang's headquarters and our destination." Jozy said; pointing towards the logging town.

Both then proceeded jump off the cliff and landed on their feet with a thud.

They both started running towards the town; the heavy underbrush concealing their movements as they ran.

"So how many guys are suppose to be there?" Yang asked; dodging bushes.

"However,many men the White Fang still have." Jozy replied; jumping to a nearby tree.

Yang did the same thing as the undergrowth got to thick to just simply run through; they continued towards the town by jumping from treetop to treetop.

As they neared the facility Jozy said, "This is my stop, I'll be waiting for your distraction."

Yang nodded and on the next branch, Jozy, jumped to his right away from Yang; who continued on just a bit further. It didn't take her long to reach the logging town after that; but she was met with another obstacle which caused her to stop. An old rusted fence surrounded the town that's top was covered in razor wire. Now this normally wouldn't be a problem; but when she stepped closer to the fence she heard a slight buzzing sound from the fence; it was electrified. Yang sighed as it left her with only two options. The first one was that she could just blow a hole in it using Ember Celica; but it would probably alert an unknown number of bad guys to her presence. The other option was to find another way in; which sounded easy enough, but even though this fence was twenty some years old it only had a few small holes in it. Yang looked around as she considered her options when she noticed a large branch hanging over the fence.

"Well if that isn't a sign I don't know what is." Yang said; jogging over to the small tree.

She climbed the tree quickly and started the tightrope walk across the branch.

Yang's nerves started to kick in, "Oh yeah, no biggie, if a gust of wind comes by I'm going to fall and break my leg."

Luckily Yang made it without incident and jumped into a space between the fence and a nearby cinder block building. She then crouch walked to the corner of the nearby building; and was met with the beast crest on the back of a White Fang soldier. She didn't know how the hell he didn't hear her land; but she took it as a good thing. She slowly stood up and tapped him on the shoulder.

"What?" he asked; turning around and seeing Yang.

She quickly hit him in the forehead; breaking his mask and skull at the same time. Catching the body as it fell she quickly drug him out of sight and left his body behind her. Yang then decided it was best to scope out the place before she went in guns blazing. She returned to her corner and scanned the area limited to that corner. From what she could tell the majority of the enemies were all foot soldiers; however, she noticed that a train was stationed at the logging facility. " _That's not suppose to be there; I wonder if Jozy knows about it."_ Yang thought.

Jozy was on top of the biggest warehouse in front of Yang. His white hair blowing wildly in the sudden gust of wind that suddenly hit him. He looked towards the sky and noticed grey storm clouds heading towards them.

"It looks like what's left of that hurricane is coming for us… we need to end this quickly." Jozy muttered; his voice deep and hollow from behind his metal mask.

From his vantage point he could see the town as well as the train.

"What are you up to Adam?" Jozy asked himself.

As he finished saying that he heard Yang start to fire.

Down below Yang was delivering hot death to the unsuspecting Faunus. This threw them into disarray as they had no thought of being attacked in the middle of nowhere. Thus it took them an extra long time to sound the alarm. Yang heard the alarm sound and watched as three soldiers rushed her with swords in each hand. Yang quickly reacted to them; and dodged out of the way of the first one, shooting him in the back in the process. The next one she blocked both of his swords with Ember Celica and then shot him in the head; making it explode like a watermelon. The left side of her face was now covered in blood that stained her skin and hair; whilst dripping down her chin. yang looked up at the last soldier and revealed that her eyes were as red as the blood that dripped down her face. The soldier wasn't fazed though and charged her anyway. This proved to be a terrible decision when she caught his right arm mid swing and dislocated his shoulder. She then punched him in the face sending him flying into the building to the left of them; his body making the wall collapse.

Jozy jumped down from his vantage point and walked passed Yang; his facial expressions hidden behind metal and sharp teeth.

"Your objective is inside the warehouse." Jozy said; walking off towards a different building.

Yang said nothing in response she just moved towards the warehouse slowly and methodically. While this was happening Adam was furiously trying to get any information possible out of one of his officers.

"What do you mean she just showed up?! You're men were supposed to be guarding the perimeter!" he yelled.

His head officer wiped his forehead, "I'm sorry; but we-"

The officer stopped talking as Adam cut his head off with Wilt and Blush. He returned the ninjato to its sheath and stepped over to a map behind him. The map detailed the White Fang's gradual expansion and utter takeover of this continent. Adam started to roll it up; but stopped when he heard metal boots hitting the ground behind him. He turned and grabbed the hilt of his ninjato.

"Can you even see out of that mask whose eyeholes are narrower than you point of view?" Jozy asked; stepping out of the shadows and into the rapidly fading sunlight,streaming through the warehouses broken windows.

His hair and eyes were illuminated intensely from the new found light source.

"My eyes are clear enough to see you standing there. Guards!" Adam yelled.

Immediately two soldiers ran into the room and stood at either side of Adam. Jozy squinted his eyes in irritation.

" I don't want to play with your toys. Get lost." Jozy said, taking two fingers and moving them in a fan shape in front of him.

Three fire balls materialized out of thin air and shot themselves at Adam and his guards. Adam easily block it using Wilt and Blush's absorb blade; however his guards weren't as lucky. The fireballs stuck to them like napalm; and quickly burnt them to a crisp.

"I see so you still have Wilt and Blush. In all honesty I thought it would have been destroyed a long time ago." Jozy said; flicking his wrist forward.

Adam noticed a black substance running down Jozy's right hand that appeared to have a mind of its own as it pooled in his palm and stayed there. Adam prepared himself for whatever attack would would come next. Suddenly Obelisk formed itself and Jozy sprung forward with blazing speed. Adam had react extremely quickly in order to block Obelisk. Sparks flew from the two blades as they connected over and over again.

In one particular assault Wilt and Blush got caught in Obelisk's serration. Adam watched as the sword suddenly broke in order to form a dagger in Jozy's other hand; which slashed up towards Adam's face. He quickly moved his head out of the way, and only a few strands of his hair were severed. He then kicked Jozy away and jumped up onto the table.

"Your no joke and certainly not a myth. However, you're no match for me." he said; pointing Wilt and Blush at him and shot his fireball back at him.

Jozy watched as the fireball flew towards him, and simply raised his hand and stopped the fireball in mid-air. He then reversed it back towards Adam; but purposefully missed him in favor of blowing up the table he was standing on. Adam was thrown backwards and showered with fiery wood splinters as the table was obliterated. Adam sat up and saw the map and his plans going up in flames; and threw the flames one could see Jozy's eyes glowing. Adam scoffed as he stood up and jumped to a nearby container and then leaped to a hole in the roof; climbing out.

"Run from me will you?" Jozy asked; jumping up.

He spun in the air and transformed into a bunch book pages. The pages funnelled en masse towards the hole that Adam fled through; and exited the building. Outside Adam was running across the rooftop, his shoes making loud thudding sounds on the weak sheet metal roof as he ran towards the train. The pages congregated in front of him, and reformed to recreate Jozy.

"Going somewhere?" Jozy asked; Obelisk still held in his right hand.

"As a matter of fact I am." he replied, withdrawing his sword and pointing it at Jozy.

Jozy pointed Obelisk straight up in the air; giving him the freedom to move his sword freely if Adam should proceed to attack him.

"Give up, Adam you're men are dead; you've lost." Jozy said; giving him one last chance to end this peacefully.

Adam looked to the ground where his men lay dead or dying.

"Unfortunately, I can't just give up." he responded.

With that he activated his semblance and charged Jozy; who grabbed Obelisk with two hands in preparation for the strike. Adam's sword struck Obelisk with a red flash, and sparks as the force of a truck was emptied out of it. Jozy felt his arms about to buckle under the pressure; but banished the pain from his mind and started to push back. Adam grit his teeth as he felt himself start to get pushed backwards. Jozy finally broke the deadlock by allowing Adam's sword to beat his while he dodged out of the way. Jozy rolled onto one knee and stood up in time to block Adam's next attack. Jozy's eyes flashed yellow before Obelisk was coated in purple Sonic Dust the blew Adam back with a powerful shock wave that made their ears ring. Jozy ran forward and started to launch slash after slash at Adam;with lethal precision. One strike went passed Wilt and Blush and cut Adam's right arm. This sent Adam into panic mode and caused him to shoot the shotgun of Wilt and Blush at Jozy. He had to react extremely quickly, but Jozy managed to reform Obelisk into a shield that blocked the incoming projectiles. He lowered the shield in time to see Adam jump from the roof and onto the passenger cars of the train; he then entered through a window.

"Adam, what's going on out there?" Raven asked;who had been guarding the train.

"Get the train moving it's the Sequoia Tree." Adam commanded.

Raven ran towards the front of the train when he said this.

Outside Jozy was still standing looking at the specific car Adam went into.

" _Madoka Evercaster."_ he said; transforming Obelisk into a black version of Evercaster.

He split its blades and waited for the red ball of energy to fully charge. However, before he could fire he saw Neo land in front of him and kick Obelisk out of his hand. It landed with a clang, on top of the train that was pulling away rapidly. Jozy grit his teeth underneath his mask.

"Son of a bitch, where the hell is Yang?" he asked; himself.

He got his answer with a loud bang. Yang had used Ember Celica to propel herself up and onto the roof top. She then ran at Neo with her fist ready to clobber her. Neo turned and put her umbrella between her and Yang; however this made her take her eyes off of Jozy.

"Take your eyes off me, bitch?" Jozy asked; unleashing the most powerful form of Dust that a mage possessed.

He raised his left hand and shot a red bolt of lightning out of it; that conducted itself onto the metal tube of Neo's umbrella. She screamed in pain as the aggressive bolt of electricity fried the nerves in her arm; and scared it with burns that were well above the third degree. The electricity also traveled up to the Dust resistent fabric of the umbrella and easily overpowered it, causing her umbrella to vaporize and explode into a bunch of small burning pieces of fabric. Neo looked up to see Yang mere feet away from her;a nd her eyes turned white with despair. Yang hit Neo in the face, and sent her flying to the ground below. When she was hit Jozy heard the sharp snap of her jaw breaking; and guessed that her left leg was broken too from the way that she landed on the concrete.

"Are you okay?" Yang asked; having wiped some of the blood off her face.

"Yeah, but I don't have time to talk; meet me when I stop the train." Jozy said; jumping down and running after the train.

He switched over to Ruby's semblance and ran at full speed after the train. He caught up to it easily; and jumped onto the top of the end train car where he found Obelisk lying. He then jumped down to the door on the back of car and entered.

Yang watched this unfold, before jumping down to find Neo lying on her back. Her hand that had been holding the umbrella was red; and on her ring finger one could see the bone. Her blue ponytail was an absolute mess, and was stained with her own blood that was running out of her mouth. Her leg was second worse compared to her hand as it had its femur sticking out of a hole it had cut in her white high heeled boot. The only way that yang knew that she was even alive was because of the small squeaks she would make as she cried; her tears creating small puddles on the concrete. Yang looked at the ground; her hair casting a shadow over her eyes. She moved over to Neo and picked up her broken leg. Neo could barely protest thanks to her broken jaw.

"Neo, this is going to hurt like a bitch, okay?" Yang asked.

The only form of acknowledgement Neo gave was a low moan. Yang hit the bone and forced it back into place; she then grabbed her field aid kit and started to wrap it. All while Neo was shrieking loudly. Yang cut the wrap and then proceeded to wrap her terribly burnt arm and hand. As she started the white gauze turned to red immediately as Neo's blood soaked into the fabric. Yang finished as quickly as she could and cut the wrap again, before returning her scissors and gauze back to her medkit.

"There's not much I can do about the jaw, sorry." Yang said; picking Neo up bridal style.

She then ran into a half blown up gas station that had a garage attached to it. Inside of the garage she found an old military four door truck; that the White Fang had been using. Yang opened the back two doors and gently laid Neo on her back; across the two seats. She then ran to the other side of the truck and jumped into the driver's seat.

"Sorry, but I don't have time to make a stretcher you'll just have to remain still." Yang said' pulling out of the already open door.

Neo nodded, but Yang couldn't see it as her eyes were set in front of her. She pulled onto the train tracks to chase down Jozy's train.


	37. Chapter 37

**A/N: Hey guys I'm back without a delay this week. So I just wanted to mention that I am probably the most hated person in the RWBY fandom right now; because I am the only person who laughed when Penny died. Her deathwas so ironic to me because Pinocchio got ripped apart by her own strings XD… I'm a terrible person. So I hope you guys enjoy the chapter; and if you did please favorite, follow, and review. Love you guys:)**

"Man vs Beast"

Jozy walked through the various set of train cars trying to find which one Adam was in. Outside the windows one could see the rusted forest go by at blazing speeds. " _Where the hell are they even going?"_ Jozy thought, subconsciously. He opened the door to the next passenger car and stopped as the door shut behind him. Inside the seats had been removed and Adam stood in front of him along with Raven. Both had their swords drawn and covered with Dust. Jozy looked around slowly; and then directed his attention to those in front of him.

"Long time no see, Raven. Cool mask." Jozy said; his voice deep and hollow from underneath his own mask.

Raven took a step forward, "I'm honestly surprised you're still alive; your recklessness never seems to catch up with you."

"What you always perceived as recklessness was in fact skill that you could never grasp." Jozy said; flicking his wrist.

Obelisk's hilt fell into his hand and its blade formed out of its black liquid. Jozy kept it down; wanting to see what they would do.

"You think you can win against both of us. That's fine, but when we cut you to ribbons you won't be laughing." Adam said.

Jozy put Obelisk in front of him, "Your arrogance will be your downfall."

With that both of them ran at Jozy. The reached their destination quickly and both slashed down hard. Obelisk blocked their two Dust swords; and showered Jozy in neon sparks. Both pulled away quickly; and kicked Jozy back.

He took the kicks in stride and soon returned fire with with two ice spikes; that were blocked by Adam and Raven. However, this gave him the opportunity to run up on them and disoriented them. Obelisk clashed with their swords and forced them into the air. He then kicked Adam out of the way and grabbed Raven using Movement Dust. He forced her arms and legs together before lifting her and hitting her on the top of passenger car. He then threw her towards the door her entered through, and smacked her back on the metal door. She coughed blood before he threw her at Adam who was just getting up.

Raven crashed into him and knocked him to the ground once more. Both got up slowly as Jozy looked on them; putting Obelisk into a defensive stance.

"It's true, he uses Dust as an offensive move as well as a defensive move. We won't be able to win if he still has that available to him." Raven said; wiping the blood of her mouth.

"Then it's a good thing we brought that new armor we developed." Adam said, standing up.

He pushed his right sleeve up and hit a button on a black wrist band. Immediately he was covered in Grimm armor of various types. Raven did the same and was covered in the same kind of armor. Jozy stared at them; his face expressionless. Adam and Raven ran at him; and it was apparent that the armor gave them enhanced speed and strength. Their swords clashed with Obelisk multiple times, showering either side in sparks. Jozy tried to separate them by shooting Raven with a stream of fire; however, her armor and sword absorbed it. This left him wide open for Adam to hit him; sending him flying back. He landed on his back dropping Obelisk in the process. He laid on the floor, his breathing calm as he looked up at the ceiling.

"Hey, do you want me to tell you why you started the White Fang?" Jozy asked.

Adam took a step forward, "Huh? There's no way you could know that."

"It was for protection wasn't it. The sad faunus boy who wanted to be strong yet couldn't get there without bloodshed; and then you slowly descended into despair scared because if Blake could leave you anyone else could. You're _weak_ Adam." he said, slowly standing up.

"You shut your damn mouth!" Adam ordered; becoming increasingly more agitated.

"Stop it , Adam, don't let him into your head." Raven said; trying to consul him.

"And you, Raven, you'll be happy to know that I brought your daughter along with me. You know the one that you wished that you would've kept your legs shut to prevent. You sure did earn the mother of the year award didn't you, oh, wait Liz beat you in that too." Jozy pointed at Raven, who was practically foaming out of the mouth. "You _are_ a fraud."

Raven grit her teeth underneath her mask; and ran at Jozy.

"Raven, don't!" Adam yelled.

It was too late Jozy raised his hand and shot a yellow bolt of lightning at her. He then lifted her whilst the electricity destroyed her Grimm armor and threw her into the top right corner of the car. She was unconscious, but not dead.

"Let me give you a crash course in how Lightning Dust works." Jozy turned towards Adam. "It is the most powerful form of Dust; yet it is also the hardest to master. It is also the only form of Dust that is both good and evil; based on the user's emotions. It changes color based on its strength and the user's emotion with blue being happiness; and black being absolute hatred. Black would kill you in one bolt." he finished, grabbing Obelisk off the ground.

Adam got up off the ground and grabbed Wilt and Blush.

"If you think that you'll win that easily you're mistaken." Adam said; pointing his sword at Jozy.

"Am I?" Jozy said; suddenly appearing behind Adam.

He retracted Obelisk back into his sleeve and punched Adam in the back of his head. Adam turned around only to not find Jozy there; but felt him kick him from behind.

"Your weak and I am the fucking strong." Jozy said; withdrawing Obelisk.

Adam put his sword up to block the incoming blow; however it did little good as Obelisk overpowered his sword and broke the blade in two. The absorb metal hit the ground with a clang and with it went Adam's hope of winning. Jozy punched him in the face, cracking his mask in the process; before knocking onto his back. He put Obelisk away and pinned Adam to the ground; punching him in the face as he did. He hit him over and over again, breaking Adam's nose in the process. Finally on the final punch broke Adam mask; and shattered it into a million tiny pieces. Underneath was his badly scarred; but functional eyes that had a glazed over look on them.

Jozy picked Adam up by his collar and threw him to his feet. Blood was dripping off of Adam's lips as his nose bled profusely.

"Come on false king! Fight me how a great leader would." Jozy commanded; taunting him.

Adam hobbled over as fast as he could and threw a weak punch at Jozy. Jozy caught it and used Adam's own momentum to guide his punch that embedded itself in his stomach. Adam coughed before being hit back down to the floor his breath completely gone. Jozy rolled him over in his incapacitated state; and lifted his right arm.

"So I guess you not a king after all. So then since you're a commoner I'll ask you a common question. How many bones does the human body have?" he asked.

Adam was too winded to answer.

"The answer is 206; and as punishment for your rebellion I'm going to break 203 of you bones; and if you're still alive I'll kill you mercifully." Jozy said.

He grabbed each of the fingers on Adam's right hand and twisted them one by one in order to make sure that he got every single bone in his fingers. He then moved to his metacarpals and crushed them in his hand, again making sure that every one of those tiny bones were in two.

"I don't know if you know this or not Adam, but every one of a person's bones are perfectly symmetrical so that means that they're pretty easy to break." Jozy said; moving to his forearm.

In one swift motion he kicked his forearm and broke his ulna and radius in one go. Adam screamed in pain as Jozy did the same thing to his humerus or upper arm bone.

Jozy dropped his limp arm to the floor, " Congratulations, you survived thirty that leaves only 173 more to go."

As Jozy picked up his other arm, Adam looked over to the still unconscious Raven.

"She won't help you, Adam. The only one who can help you now is God; but then again you're so arrogant you probably wouldn't take the help." Jozy said; starting on his other hand.

Adam screamed in pain again as his bones broke like glass.

It took about five minutes to break Adam's bones which left him a vegetative state on the floor. However, he was _still_ alive. Jozy remedied this by slitting his throat with Obelisk and let him bleed out onto the floor. This happened right as Raven was just beginning to wake up. He moved over to her and touched her temple with his index and middle fingers. Using the semblance of an unknown Huntsman he put her to sleep instantly.

"Okay, I've had enough of this train ride." Jozy said; turning to the door that he originally came through.

He turned Obelisk into Evercaster once again and shot the door. The fierce ball of energy not only destroyed the door, but half of the other car was gone as well. This in turn decoupled it and caused it to derail the rest of the cars behind it. Jozy turned and grabbed Raven. He put her over his shoulder and also grabbed Adam by the leg; jumping out of the train. He threw Adam's lifeless body to the ground as he landed kicking up a small amount of dust. Jozy gently set Raven down before turning back to Adam. He removed Adam's coat and draped it over his face; showing as much respect as he could.

Standing back up he removed his mask and looked around. He noticed that in the time that he was inside the train the trees had returned to their normal shade of green. Above were the storm clouds that he had seen previously moving towards him.

"So where am I exactly?" Jozy asked; himself.

The scent of rain and smoldering wood filling his nostrils as he suddenly heard a vehicle coming towards him. He summoned Obelisk once again and watched the vehicle drive around one of the derailed passenger cars and come into view. It was an old military truck that had no markings on it; its windows were clouded over with dust but not to the point that the driver couldn't see. Jozy was about to attack the truck, but stopped when he saw Yang stick her head out and started to wave at him. Jozy lowered Obelisk and allowed her to drive up to him.

"Sup?" Yang said; from behind her aviator sunglasses.

"Oh, you know just derailing trains." Jozy said; sarcastically.

"I see that." Yang responded; watching Jozy pick up her mother and carry her over to the truck.

He loaded her into the bed of the truck and then went back over to Yang.

"What happened to Adam?" she asked.

Jozy turned towards Adam's body, "Right I almost forgot about that."

He moved over to him and hefted the body and then proceeded to load him into the truck.

"If he's dead why are we taking him?" Yang asked.

"The kingdoms won't believe me if I don't give them proof and what better proof than his dead body?" Jozy said; a smirk forming on his face.

Yang shook her head, "Although I hate the idea you _are_ right."

"I'm glad you agree; by the way where's Neo?" he asked; shutting the tailgate.

"She's laying down in the seat behind me asleep." Yang said; pointing behind her with her thumb.

"Okay good, you know where the rendezvous point is?" he asked; climbing into the bed of the truck and sitting on the top of the cab.

"Blondes aren't that stupid, Mr. White Hair." Yang said; flashing him a bright smile.

"I certainly hope so." he said; as Yang turned around and headed back in the direction of the logging town.

Meanwhile Ruby and Saffeara were still sitting on Ruby's bed; the day turned to night. The credits were rolling on the final episode of the first season of Ruby's show and her battery was basically dead. Saffeara got up off of Ruby's bed and started to stretch her aching muscles.

"Oh dear, what time is it?" Saffeara asked; stifling a yawn.

"It's around 7:30." Ruby said; plugging her laptop's charger into a the wall closest to her bed.

"Well crap, my laundry was suppose to be done like five hours ago. So I'll be back after I make sure some recruit didn't steal the few clothes I have." Saffeara said; walking over to her closet and pulled out her officers over coat that all Tree Leadership possessed.

She slipped it over her naked body and secured it thoroughly before walking over to the door.

"I'll be back." She said; waving with an abnormally large grin.

Ruby smiled back at her just as the door was shutting. With Saffeara now gone Ruby decided to start unpacking the rest of her things. She opened her closet, which was directly across from Saffeara's , and proceeded to start hanging up her clothes on the hangers provided.

She did this rather quickly thanks to her semblance, however the increased speed generated a lot of extra air flow in the room. As she was about to put her red toothbrush and toothpaste in the bathroom she noticed a white piece of paper had been blown from underneath Saffeara's bed. Ruby zipped into the bathroom, put her stuff away; and came back in under a second. She bent down and picked up the small piece of paper; whilst sliding Lunar Rose underneath her bed. She turned it over to find that it was a picture; but she had a hard time making out what it was. She reached into her back pocket and fumbled with her glasses case before finally putting her bifocals on. The image came into view and revealed a girl who couldn't have been more than eleven. She had straight, long, black hair that framed her pink eyes that were covered by a pair of thick black glasses. She wore a soft and gentle smile on her face.

Ruby turned the picture over and noticed that there was some small writing on the back.

"Really miss you, Sis. Love you, Saffeara." It read; in faded blue ink.

Ruby's eyes widened as she realized who this was. " _I think this is Haruka."_ she thought; about to put it back under Saffeara's bed. However, she stopped when the door was flung open.

"I'm back. Sorry it took me so long; but I had to…" She stopped halfway through her sentence; noticing the picture.

Her face fell as she slowly walked over to Ruby.

"I, uh, think you dropped this." Ruby said; handing her the photo awkwardly.

"Well thanks for finding it for me." Saffeara said; taking the picture from her.

She tried her best to comfort the girl who looked like she was about to be punished. She moved over to her closet and deposited her overcoat and slipped the picture into her bra. She picked up her robe and threw in over her head.

"Hey Ruby, I need to show you something come on." Saffeara said; opening the door.

"Okay." Ruby said a little confused.

Saffeara watched Ruby's new cape disappear down the hallway. She soon followed; locking their door with her key card. They traveled a while till they got to a glass elevator. Both women entered and Saffeara hit the button that would take them to the top floor.

On arrival Saffeara took Ruby by her metal arm and lead her down a long corridor. It eventually lead to a door that when opened lead to an expansive bar with hardwood floors and an opening that lead out and onto a balcony. The bar itself had several red and blue bar stools sitting around it; and in the back one could see the various liquor bottles illuminated by a sky blue light. Chairs and tables were placed in ways that an individual could maintain a conversation up close as well as across the room.

"What is this?" Ruby asked.

"This is where the leadership goes to relax; but I knew it would be empty since Liz is pregnant and everyone else is busy." Saffeara replied; spinning around.

Ruby nodded in affirmation; proceeding farther into the room with Saffeara. They soon found themselves on the balcony that was being showered in moonlight. Sitting blow them were the neon lights of the Commercial and Business Districts of Vale. Saffeara motioned for Ruby to sit down in one of the two lounge chairs. Ruby did so and Saffeara took the one opposite her.

"It's hard to believe that in an hour we'll have left Vale and be over the ocean."Saffeara said.

"On to the BD Continent; I hope Jozy's cleared the White Fang out." Ruby mentioned.

"Heh, knowing him he had it done hours ago. So I take it you want to know about Haruka, right?" Saffeara asked; changing the subject.

Ruby looked away from her, "Not if it's a difficult subject for you."

Saffeara was touched by just how considerate Ruby was being.

"It's alright I don't mind; it's just not to many people can relate to it."

"It's alright I'll try my best." Ruby said; giving Saffeara a determined look.

Saffeara chuckled, "Okay, so I told you before that I didn't have have the best parents; but it was much worse than I first let on. I was born an illegitimate child to a Mistrali Businessman and his Atlysian wife. With I being a faunus you could guess how she felt towards me. I was kept, reluctantly, and was put into grade school."

Saffeara paused to catch her breath.

"My father hated me. He was the biggest racist you've ever seen; even bigger than the Schnee's. I often wondered why he even had me; but I guess having sex with a faunus isn't much different than a human. However, I soon realized that he loved me too. I lost my virginity to him when I was eight and it just continued after that."

Saffeara wiped her eyes.

"It got so bad that I would wake up to find my underwear drawer empty. So I would have to go without; letting my father rape me whenever he wanted. As I'm sure you noticed my mom was never involved that much. Well, in reality she just watched me as I cried on the bed. I hoped that it all would stop when Haruka was born; but unfortunately it only got worse. My mom started to drug me so that she could molest Haruka, and it continued for months after her tenth birthday. I finally ran away with Haruka after my dad raped me and beat me with Haruka still in the room. We ran as far as we could; but it wasn't far enough as we were kidnapped by Winter Schnee. She strapped me to a table and removed my ears with pliers, and as you could guess pliers don't exactly cut they tear. It was at this point that I learned my Primal Semblance; yet I couldn't control it and I… I killed Haruka because of it."

Ruby was about to come over to her; but stopped when Saffeara put her hand out.

"Jozy later found me passed out in an alleyway after I fought my way out; and took me to liz. My semblance healed me quickly; and then Jozy trained me how to use sword and fight like a huntress would. When I was twenty one I finished my first novel and joined the Sequoia Tree; the rest is history." Saffeara finished; wiping her eyes one more time.

"Wow, I never could have guessed that happened. I'm truly sorry that you were put through that, Saffeara." Ruby said; her face downcast, but sincere.

"Thanks, Ruby. Now if you don't mind I need a drink." Saffeara said; getting up and walking towards the bar.

Ruby got up and followed her as she walked behind the counter.

"Can I get one too?" Ruby asked; as Saffeara put a beer on the counter and opened it.

Saffeara was stunned, "Uh, sure, but have you drank before?"

"No, but I figure I'll have to eventually." Ruby replied; tucking a strand of her brown hair behind her ear.

Saffeara nodded her head in agreement before grabbing another beer and opened it. Ruby sat on one of the bar stools and drank from her beer; the liquid burning the back of her throat. She coughed at how strong the drink was.

"Jeez, if that's how you react to beer I'd hate to see you drink rum or tequila." Saffeara laughed; sitting down next to Ruby.

"I'm not _that_ bad." Ruby said; taking another drink meekly.

"You need more practice; but if you really want to see someone who can drink you should see a non-pregnant Liz. How the hell she can drink half a bottle of vodka and not have any after effects still baffles me." Saffeara said; drinking.

"Huh? I've never even seen Liz drink before." Ruby responded; with an incredulous look in her eyes.

"That's because she's not a big drinker; but I will saw that some of that coffee she drinks isn't _just_ coffee." Saffeara said; her lips curling up into a smirk.

Ruby had a quizzical look on her face, "Hmm, I never thought of that."

Both women fell silent for a moment before Saffeara started another conversation.

"You better call Weiss before we get to Atlas; because then we'll be at the mercy of the Arbiters." Saffeara said; setting her now empty bottle down on the counter.

"Who are they?" Ruby asked.

"You'll find out tomorrow at the mission briefing. Well, I think I'm going to bed you remember how to get back?" Saffeara asked; standing up.

"Not exactly, I'll follow you." Ruby said; standing up.

Both women started to walk towards the elevator.

"Hey, you wanna get something to eat?" Ruby asked.

"Sorry, I forgot that you hadn't eaten all day. I think there's a pretty good noodle place on the fortieth floor." Saffeara said.

"Sounds delicious; but what about you?"

"I ate a large breakfast this morning." Saffeara said; stepping into the elevator with Ruby.

The doors shut and the elevator was sent down. On Saffeara's empty beer bottle was a small bead of human blood that ran down the bottle and onto the hardwood counter.

In the hangar bay of the flagship, Jozy and Kale were watching Raven being carted away by a two man team of Sequoia Tree Sentinels.

"What will you do with her?" Kale asked.

"It's not up to me; we'll have to see what the jury decides." Jozy said; sticking his hands in his pockets.

Kale turned; his gold eyes shifting in the LED lights.

"What do you think they'll say?"

Jozy shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. but I know for a fact she'll be marked for disposal."

"Defying the Tree is a heavy offense; that carries an equally heavy price. So where's Yang?" Kale asked, crossing his arms.

"I sent her home already she needed the rest." Jozy replied; noticing the medical team wheeling Adam's body out on a stretcher, his body covered by a blue blanket.

"So what will we use him for, besides evidence?" Kale asked; his boots hitting the metal floor as he followed Jozy through an automatic door.

They entered into a long hallway that was illuminated by white floor lights.

"I'm going to save him for a contingency plan." Jozy replied.

"Care to share?"

"Not really, because I'd rather keep it to myself for the time being." Jozy said; walking past another corridor.

Both stopped when they heard Tyler's heavy footsteps and figure coming towards them. His visor was up to reveal his face as he walked towards them scroll in hand.

"Jozy, the Council just ruled on the Neopolitan case." Tyler reported.

Jozy and Kale looked at each other in confusion before turning back.

"What do you mean they ruled on her case? She's still aboard in the medical sector." Jozy asked.

"The kingdom of Vale felt they had enough substantial evidence from the last four years to find her guilty without trial." Tyler said; his eye twitching a bit.

"That's bullshit, the law states that even a terrorist like herself gets a fair trial when she is able to defend herself." Kale said; clenching his fists.

"I agree, is there anyway we can circumvent the Council's decision?" Tyler asked.

"Not easily, I would have to challenge the ruling in the Council itself and then that would start a lengthy legal battle." Jozy replied.

"That's time that we don't have in a state of war. What else we could do?" Kale asked.

Jozy shook his head, "The only way we could technically make the ruling void is if Neo were to join the Sequoia Tree then she would be our problem. However, she can't exactly say yes or no with her broken jaw."

"Would the Council accept a gestured yes or no; like sign language?" Tyler asked.

Jozy looked at Kale who shrugged, "I guess; but I've never asked."

"I'll talk to Neo in the morning, you two need to get things ready for the briefing tomorrow. With a bit of luck we'll spare her from the wrath of the Valysians." Jozy said.

Both nodded in agreement before they went their separate ways.

Neo was wide awake in her room located in the medical sector. She stared out of the window which bathed the room in moonlight. Thoughts swirled around in her head; " _The light is pretty, My jaw feels much better as well as my leg and arm, At least Liz doesn't treat me like a criminal."_ were some of the thoughts going through her head. However, the one that was most prevalent was a simple question with no answer, " _Why did she save me?"_. This thought would echo through Neo's mind until she fell asleep once again; her mind needing rest instead of her body this time.


	38. Chapter 38

**A/N: Hey guys I'm coming in hot with another chapter of RWBY: Darkfall. So I got this chapter done insanely quickly; which was very surprising for me. Like as I'm writing this I'm thinking of how board I'm going to be while I try and figure out what to do with my hands. . . Okay so let's get to the chapter as I have run out of stuff to say; remember to review, favorite, and follow. I love you guys, see you next week B)**

"The Coming Storm"

Sun sat at a large metal table; his blood stained cheek resting on the table. Ever since he had been arrested by the Sequoia Tree he had been tortured until he had been found guilty and was slated to be suspended. The way the justice system worked in the Tree was that their were three levels of severity for an offense. The first one detailed rioting specifically against the Tree which was punished by imprisonment, the second level was open rebellion against a kingdom which was punished through a new method called, "Suspension". The third and final level was open defiance of the Supremacy of the Tree which carried a death sentence. This final level was reserved for those who committed treason willingly; and without prior compensation. This included, Adam Taurus, Raven Branwen, and Cinder Fall.

Sun looked up through his swollen eye and noticed Saffeara standing in front of him. She had a satisfied smirk on her face; and was bracing herself up with Evercaster. She looked on the length of Sun's naked body that was once muscular. Now, however his skin was rubbed raw and his tail was a matted, bloody mess. Blood dripped down from in between his legs a signature mark that Saffeara had just done with Evercaster; blood streaming down its purple blade.

"You know how this goes Sun, tell me whatever information you can about Atlas or Ironwood." Saffeara said; her red eyes dancing in the light.

Sun raised his head, "You've taken everything from me; my best friend, my freedom, my team, and even the thing that defines me as a man. Why would I ever tell you anything?"

Saffeara watched as he started breathing heavier; trying to compensate for the pain he was feeling.

"Because you know what it means if you help me. It means that even though you're suspended you can live out the rest of your sentence; but if you don't I will have the Sentinels come back in here and chain you up. Your wounds will fester and become infected then you'll die from the infection." Saffeara put it bluntly, not wanting to waste time.

Sun put his head back on the table and did not make a sound.

"Fine I'll tell the Sentinels to just shoot you it'll free up the cell." Saffeara said; turning towards the door.

"Wait!" Sun yelled.

Saffeara turned on her heel, the bottom of her robe flaring out like a dress for a moment.

"Bradley mentioned that the Schnee Dust Company had started hiring other teams like ours from all across Remnant." He said; swallowing his pride.

"And?" Saffeara asked; curious as to if there was any more.

"The way she said it sounded like most of the teams agreed." He said, hanging his head low.

Saffeara smiled, "Very good."

She opened the door to meet two Sentinels.

"Send for a medic and have him treat Sun's wounds; and then after we verify his information I'll be sending a warm meal down depending on whether or not it's true." Saffeara said; walking out of the room.

"Yes ma'am." The one on her left said, as she walked pass.

Saffeara continued down the long metal corridor; her bare feet thudding on the cold floor. She put her hood up and got stuck in a deep thought. She looked up when she only suddenly heard the click of heels coming towards her. She looked up to see Liz coming toward her; her natural red highlights glistening in the light. In her right had she held a large data pad and wore her usual soft smile.

" _Moyo, Liz._ (Morning, Liz.)" Saffeara said; in Valysian.

Liz stopped her lips parting enough to show her teeth in her smile, "Morning, it's been awhile since I've heard you speak Valysian."

"Yeah, I guess it has been awhile. So what are you doing here; I thought you were on strict desk duty thanks to the bun in the oven." Saffeara asked; a playful smile growing on her face.

"Well, something important came up so Jozy sent me to deal with Raven." Liz explained.

"Oh okay, so I take it they fucked up on Neo's case." Saffeara conjectured.

"Major fuck up; I feel sorry for that girl she's been through enough in my opinion." Liz said; putting her left hand on her hip.

"You feel sorry for everyone, Liz. That's why we love you." Saffeara said; sincerely.

"Thanks." Liz didn't know exactly why but Saffeara was always nicer to her than anyone else. She figured it was payment for taking care of her wounds for so many years. "Did you get Ruby up?"

"I did; but we were up late last night so I should probably go check on her." Saffeara said; awkwardly scratching her head.

Liz nodded, "If you need to wake her up just tap her on the cheek a couple times."

"Will do." Saffeara said.

She waved to Liz before parting ways.

It took her some time; but she got back to Ruby and hers shared room. She opened the door to find Ruby still asleep; the room itself was shaded in grey light that was trying to break through the white curtains. Ruby herself looked like a peaceful mess with her arms and legs uncovered; and sprawled out all over the place. Her nightwear was very simple, being only a grey loose fitting tank top and a pair of rust colored panties. Her hair was sprawled out all over her pillow in the most ridiculous ball she had ever seen. Saffeara had to stifle a laugh as Ruby's expression changed to a wide grin; apparently whatever dream she was having was amazing.

"Wei..ss." She muttered in her sleep.

Saffeara covered her mouth to keep her from laughing as she strolled over to Ruby. She tapped the younger girl on her cheek which made her eyes flutter open. " _Holy shit, it worked."_ Saffeara thought.

"Saffeara, good morning." Ruby said; sitting up.

"It's 12 A.M. Ruby." Saffeara said; with a smirk on her face.

Ruby looked over to the digital clock on their dresser and saw that this was true.

"Oh." she said.

"So your dreams a little wetter than usual?" Saffeara asked; a sly expression on her face.

Ruby's cheeks reddened, "H-How do you know about that?"

Saffeara laughed, "Would it be bad if I told you that you talk in your sleep?"

Ruby was horrified, "Oh god, I'm sorry you had to hear that."

"So long as that wet spot isn't the result of you pissing your pants I think I can live with it. Come on, Ruby, quit apologizing for stuff you have no control over." Saffeara said; walking over to her closet.

She pulled her robe over her head and hung it up. She now only wore her white strapless bra; and a new pair of black and white striped panties.

"I like those." Ruby said; standing up.

"Thanks; by the way your mission briefing slip should be waiting for you downstairs." Saffeara said; laying down on her bed and putting her hands behind her head.

"Thanks, but I need a shower first." Ruby said; walking into their bathroom.

Saffeara heard the bathroom door close and the water start to run. She started to think about the briefing Ruby had yet to read.

"Arbiters the leaders of Ironwood's Huntsmen. Monsters among men; but we are gods among men are you ready Winter?" she muttered; her hair covering her eyes.

When Ruby had re entered the room she found Saffeara fast asleep. " _I guess I wasn't the only one who was exhausted."_ Ruby thought. She quickly went over to her closet and put on her clothes. Leaving the room she decided to let her hair air dry since it would take her some time to get to the Command Office where her briefing was kept.

Back in the interrogation rooms, Raven was sitting at a metal table much like everyone else. She didn't have a scratch on her, in fact the only thing they had taken were her clothes that were then replaced by a grey jumpsuit with a prison number. She counted it as a blessing that she had been treated so well; but then a again she had barely been there a day.

She looked up when she heard the door open. Her eyes went wide as she saw Liz walk in; datapad in hand.

"You've got to be kidding me." Raven muttered.

"Long time no see, Raven. Are you surprised to see me?" Liz asked; sitting across from her.

"Very, I thought you would've died after you lost your kid." Raven replied.

Liz scoffed, "I almost did, but I didn't really lose her like you did yours."

Liz had dealt with Raven before and she knew that bringing up her failures would cause her to crack like an egg eventually.

"I never did lose anything; but you apparently can't keep your legs shut." she said; referring Liz's pregnancy.

Liz chuckled, "I can keep my legs shut I just chose not to, because unlike _you_ I actually married someone I love. You just married Tia because he could give you the longest ride and could reach inside you farther than any other man could, right?"

"I did no such thing you, tramp. I married him because I loved him." Raven spat; getting visibly agitated.

Liz braced her head up with her hand, "Oh yeah, then why did you run away? I mean if you loved him so much then why did you run away after having your only child? Unless you only did love him for what he could do between your legs; in that case _you_ are the one who should have kept your legs shut."

Raven grit her teeth in anger at Liz.

"A seventeen year old me would be afraid of your anger; but now it's not even a threat. It's almost like that time I slapped you and knocked you on your ass in front of both of our teams." Liz taunted her.

Raven stood up clenching her fist.

"I kill you just like I should have all those years ago!" she yelled; throwing a punch at her.

Liz just raised her left hand and caught it with little effort. She wore an unimpressed look on her face.

"Wow, your daughter throws a harder punch than that." Liz said; jumping out of her seat.

Before Raven's brain could even register what was happening she felt her forehead slam into the table. She yelled as her head recoiled back and her hands went up to hold herself steady. Liz was now back in her seat.

"The Council has slated you for disposal; but in the end I am the one who determines how to carry out your execution. However, Yang wants to speak to you so I'll postpone my judgement till then" Liz said, picking up her data pad.

Liz got up from the table and opened the door; she then instructed the Sentinels to handcuff her before Yang entered. As they were handcuffing her she noticed the yellow haired girl walk up to Liz.

"Am I okay to go in?" Yang asked.

"Yes, but if anything happens you yell, understand?" Liz asked; putting her hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, ma'am." Yang said.

"Okay, you have ten minutes so say whatever you need to." Liz said; letting Yang go.

Yang nodded and walked into the room. They closed the door behind her as a precaution.

Elsewhere Neo was struggling to sit up in her bed. Her jaw had just been unwrapped; but was still stiff from lack of movement. Her arm and leg were still wrapped up, however and were giving her the most trouble when it came to just sitting up. Her blue hair was a mess as she grit her teeth in frustration.

"Need some help?"a voice asked.

Neo looked up to see Jozy standing in the doorway. She didn't exactly trust him; but doing it herself wasn't going to work.

"Promise you won't hurt me?" Neo asked.

"I'm a mage I was first taught how to be gentle before I was taught to kill." Jozy said; raising his hands.

Neo suddenly felt a force wrap around her waist and gently lift her into a sitting position.

"Cool, I'm still mad at you for the umbrella though." Neo said.

"That's fine with me; although I would have liked to add it to my collection." Jozy said; sitting down on a chair next to her hospital bed.

"Hmm, so why are you here? I bet it's not just to check and see if I'm still here." Neo assumed.

"That would be correct. Last night the Valysian Council held a secret meeting in order to try your case. This is highly illegal; and highly unfair to you because no matter what you did you do have the right to defend yourself." Jozy said.

"You put a lot of faith in the Council of a kingdom don't you?" she said; sarcastically.

"No, that's why I'm here. The Council ruled that you were to be imprisoned for the crimes you have committed; but I'm not stupid and I know that no normal prison could hold you."

"I will admit that you do learn quickly."

"My point exactly, so I'll give you two options." Jozy pulled out his scroll; and brought up an image. "We can imprison you via suspension; or you can join the Sequoia Tree and in exchange we'll keep you out of the Valysian's hands." Jozy said; putting his scroll away.

"So either way I'm being imprisoned." Neo conjectured.

"Pretty much; but it's your decision on whether or not you want a good or bad day for the rest of your life." Jozy admitted.

Silence fell over the room as Neo thought about her decision. She weighed her options carefully before choosing.

"What would I be doing in the Tree?" she asked.

"You wouldn't be fighting; but we're working on a special assignment for you and one other person." Jozy replied.

"Who is this other person?"

"You'll find out if you say yes. So will you do it?"

Neo thought some more, " I will."

Jozy got out of his seat and walked towards the door, "Awesome, I'll send your partner up as soon as possible."

With that he left, leaving Neo to think about the decision she made.

Meanwhile Ruby was down at her favorite noodle shop reading the mission briefing about Atlas. Around her were soldiers and other officers all eating and conversing amongst one another. Ruby was half eating and half reading; her multitasking on point.

"Is this seat taken?" a male voice asked.

Ruby looked up to see a Sequoia Tree officer standing in front of her; holding a tray of food. He looked to be in his late fifties with his brown hair just starting to turn gray. Ruby made note of his age and figured that he was extremely experienced since he had not been discharged yet.

"I don't mind; go ahead." Ruby said; as sincerely as possible.

He gave her a grateful smile as he set his food down and sat across from her.

"I've never seen you around here; are you new?" he asked; picking up his chopsticks.

Ruby chuckled a bit, "No, I've probably been here for quite a while."

"Oh really, well then I probably know you. Where did you serve?" he asked.

"I killed Atlysians in the Deathwind, then SF in Mistral, and then marched into Vale where I killed one of my best friends. Now I'm here talking to you." Ruby said; taking her reading glasses off.

He looked at Ruby with a smirk on his face, "I've heard of 're Ruby Rose the Sequoia Tree's reaper."

Ruby chuckled a bit, "Is that what they're calling me now?"

"Look around you ma'am everyone of the soldiers in this room is talking about you." he said.

Ruby looked around, "I suppose you're right; but who are you anyway?"

"I'm Major General Connor Amaranthe, I'm also a subordinate under you Miss Rose." Connor said.

"Interesting, I take it you know your stuff." Ruby said; standing up and extending her her metal arm.

Connor grabbed it and shook her hand before allowing her to leave.

Yang came out of the interrogation wiping her eyes. She had just gotten done talking to her mom, and only had a minute left to spare. Liz came over to her and put her arm around her. Yang got as close to her as she could; but was careful not to knock her over.

She rubbed Yang's back, "It's okay, you don't have to worry about her anymore."

Liz turned towards the guards; her hair blocking their view of her topaz eyes.

"Death by suspension." she said; before escorting Yang out of room.

The two Sentinels looked at each other; their black visors reflecting the light in the room. They then entered the room to find Raven sitting, staring at the ground. Wordlessly they took her hands and stabbed hooks threw her wrists, sending thick amounts of blood sailing to the floor. Raven grit her teeth and grunted in pain as they made sure the hooks were secure. They then picked her up and walked her over to the wall behind her. With the swipe of the left ones fingers the wall opened to reveal a dark room with no floor. The hole was so large that one could not see the bottom. The two Sentinels grabbed one of the two chains that hung from the ceiling of the room and attached them to the hooks in Raven's arms. They pushed her in and Raven felt the weightless feeling of falling until the chains stopped her; sending shockwaves of pain throughout her body. She looked up to see the last shred of light disappear behind the door as it closed. This was it. In several days she would die of starvation; but in a few she would die of dehydration. Her body would then fall into the expanse below and would be disposed of.

"I'm sorry, Yang." she said; a single tear running down her face and dripping off her face into the void below.

Yang now sat on a bench a level below the interrogation sector. The hallway itself was part metal walls and giant windows that gave the individual a great view of the sky and clouds. She looked up as the sun broke through the clouds and reflected off the ocean below. Liz had left her soon after making sure she was alright since she had other official business to take care of.

"Its funny how the sun can shine so brightly during a time like this." Yang mused to herself.

Suddenly she felt something cold and wet tap the exposed skin of her shoulder. She turned to see her very own step sister standing there holding a can of beer towards her.

"Liz told me you could use one of these." Ruby said; sitting next to her, making sure to not sit on her cloak.

"Thanks." Yang said; opening the can and taking a drink.

Ruby opened a can of her own and took a drink; her throat ready for the taste this time.

Yang was surprised, "Since when did you drink, sis?"

"Very recently, but I kind of like it." she said; brushing her bangs out of her face.

"What's Weiss going to say about that?" Yang asked; snickering a bit.

"I think she'll be okay with it; so long as I don't go full drunk." Ruby said; with a smile on her face.

Yang laughed at her sister; her mood suddenly a lot brighter.

"So when did you get on the ship? I literally just heard that you were here." Ruby asked.

"I've been here for about day; but when I first got here I didn't think I'd even be here for that long." Yang admitted.

"I see, so what are were you doing here anyway?"

"I was helping Jozy clear the White Fang from the BD Continent. It involved my mother so he thought it best if I were here."

"Oh, I take it she's still alive." Ruby said; taking a drink.

"She should be; but she was marked for disposal." Yang said.

"I'm sorry, Yang. What method?" Ruby asked; somewhat guilty about the barrage of questions.

"Death by suspension." she replied.

Ruby looked towards the floor, "I'm sorry again, Yang."

"It's funny I don't know whether I'm sad or relieved that I don't have to wonder where she is anymore." Yang said; leaning over.

Ruby chose her words carefully, "I'm not going to tell you how you should feel, Yang. However, I _can_ tell you how I feel."

Yang looked at Ruby.

"If I had a choice between the two I would say, 'I'm relieved.'; because now I don't have to worry about you getting into trouble looking for her. Plus I bet it'll make Blake feel better knowing that you won't be leaving randomly in the middle of the night." she explained.

"Heh, that woman's going to be the death of me." Yang admitted; taking the final sip of her beer.

"At least we know she loves you; and if it were me that's how I would want to die." Ruby admitted.

"Heh, it's kind of strange when I first kissed Blake it was out of frustration, and now I do it because it's one of the most pleasant things to do." Yang said; thinking of more than a few times this happened.

"You sound like Weiss and I; Blake's really lucky to have you Yang." Ruby said.

"Thanks, by the way Weiss wanted me to give you this if I saw you." Yang said; reaching into back pants pocket and withdrawing her wallet.

She opened it and withdrew a picture of Weiss in a small grey tank top, and white panties. She wore a confident smile on her face; while her cheeks were dusted with a cute shade of light pink. Her engagement ring dazzling in the light as her left hand rested on her thigh.

Ruby smiled as she accepted the picture from Yang.

"Thanks Yang." Ruby said; placing the picture in her pocket.

"Yep." Yang said; leaning back on the bench.

Both women sat there for a while content to watch the clouds roll by as the day disappeared. Yang looked at her scroll and saw that it was 2:30 already and noted that her Bullhead would be leaving in twenty minutes.

"Well, it's time for me to go, Rubes." Yang said; standing up.

"Okay take care of yourself, Yang." Ruby said; standing up and hugging her.

Yang gently hugged her back before pulling away and walking passed Ruby with a smile on her face. Ruby got a determined smile on her face as she walked away; the sun silhouetting the two women as they parted ways.

It took Yang around ten minutes to get to her Bullhead; but before she boarded it she was stopped by Kale and Tyler.

"Yang!" Tyler yelled; over the sounds of the Bullhead's engines.

She looked over to the two men who were approaching her. She hastily walked over to them, not wanting to miss her flight.

"Yang, we searched all over for you. We need to talk." Tyler said.

"Is it going to take a while? I have to leave in ten minutes." Yang asked.

"Unfortunately it will; but if you listen to us you'll be able to leave immediately after." Kale said; his collar hiding his mouth.

Yang was confused as to what exactly was so important that it merited her missing her flight; but if it was serious she probably could live without the flight.

"Okay." she said; following Kale.

Tyler waved off the Bullhead before following the two of them. All of them met up inside a small office inside the hangar bay. Kale set a cross from Yang at a large wooden desk. Tyler leaned up against the wall to her left and crossed his arms.

"Yang as you know, in Vale, Beacon doesn't have the manpower anymore to regulate huntsmen and huntresses to the effectiveness that they could four years ago. This leaves us to pick up the slack, which in a time of war is very concerning." Kale explained.

"Hasn't Beacon begun rebuilding their personnel though?" Yang asked.

"They have ,but not at a rate that would be able to sustain the large volume of Huntsmen that come through Vale on a daily basis." Tyler replied.

"This is where you come in. We need someone who is able to manage the Huntsmen and get them to where they needed." Kale said.

"Are you offering me a job?" Yang asked; a small trace of shock evident in her voice.

"Pretty much. The details are in this envelope." Kale said; withdrawing a small manilla colored envelope.

He slid it across the table to Yang, and waited patiently for her to open it and read it. Yang opened it quickly and began to read the details of it. Her eyes went wide two times. The first was when she actually found out what she was going to be doing; the second time was when she found out how much she was going to be paid if she accepted.

She set the paper down, "So you want me to run a bar that caters specifically to Huntsmen; and you want to pay me 30,000 lien a week." Yang said; kind of not believing her words.

"Well we intent you to use half of the profit to maintain the place; but yeah that's the jist of it." Kale said.

"Um, this sounds a little too good; no offense." Yang said.

"Well, I will say there is one stipulation. Neo, due to a lengthy legal fuck up that I will not explain here, is now a member of the Sequoia Tree; however we can't let a convicted criminal fight on our front lines. So the secondary objective of this place would be to hide Neopolitan from the people who want to shove a fist up her ass." Kale admitted.

"While I do admit we haven't been on the friendliest terms; it'll probably be better for her." Yang said.

"Yeah, so will you do it?" Kale asked.

Yang thought about it for a moment, "I would be happy to."

"Great, we'll just need you to sign here; and it should be ready for you in about a month." Kale said; pulling out a pen.

Yang accepted the pen with a smile on her face.

As she started to sign her name, Ruby made it back to her room after running some errands. She opened the door to her room to find the lights off; and Saffeara just waking up from her nap.

"Way to sleep the day away, Saffeara." Ruby said; placing her laundry basket on the ground.

"Heh, yeah I never get to sleep like I did today." Saffeara said; stretching her body.

Ruby, went over to the lamp sitting on their shared dresser and turned it on. Saffeara shut her eyes and quickly reopened them after she got used to the sudden light in the room.

"Sorry." Ruby said; returning to her laundry basket and proceeded to hang up her clothes.

Saffeara yawned, "What time is it?"

"Its like 3:30." Ruby said; standing up.

"Damn, did your sister leave already?" Saffeara asked; sitting up and tucking her knees into her chest.

"She did, but how did you know that she was here?" Ruby asked.

"Tyler, called me and asked me if I had seen her." Saffeara replied; wiggling her toes for no apparent reason.

"Oh, I wonder what he wanted." Ruby said; placing the laundry basket outside their room.

"I don't know. I was too tired to ask and was also too busy dreaming about paradise." Saffeara said; a grin forming on her face.

"Paradise?" Ruby asked; sitting on herown bed.

"Yeah, puppies, rainbows, and sexy frisky women. I'm a woman of simple tastes Ruby." Saffeara said; laying back down, her skin glowing softly in the light.

"I think simple isn't a way to describe you." Ruby said; laying down as well.

Saffeara chuckled, "Okay, so what's your version of paradise?"

"Hmm, a land where everything is strawberries; and cookies." Ruby replied.

Both of them laughed.

"Okay then, where does Weiss come in?" Saffeara asked.

"Weiss is a real life paradise; and I would prefer her to remain that way." Ruby replied; a smile on face.

"Heh, okay so who was your first crush?" Saffeara asked.

"Why do you want to know?" Ruby asked; turning towards Saffeara.

"Because I want to know what it takes to make a Rose's heart flutter." Saffeara said.

"I never really developed a crush on anyone, even with Weiss it was more of a slow burn until I realized that I was head over heels for her." Ruby admitted.

"Hmm, you remind me of a fairy tail I read a long time ago. It was a rather short one where a girl in a red cloak was eaten by a wolf." Saffeara said.

"O-Oh." Ruby said; not knowing just how to respond to that.

"However, it was a pretty shitty story. Wolves should help people not hunt them." Saffeara said.

"What do you mean Saffeara? We hunt people all the time." Ruby asked kind of confused.

"We hunt trash, Ruby." Saffeara said; getting her point across.

"I have a question for you, Saffeara." Ruby said; not wanting to miss her opportunity.

"shoot."

"What's the _real_ reason you don't wear clothes?"

Saffeara chuckled, "I was wondering how long it would take you to ask that. It kind of surprised me that it took you _this_ long; no offense to you of course."

"Well I've been meaning to ask, but I've been busy." Ruby admitted, looking down at her metal arm.

"I understand." Saffeara turned toward the ceiling again. "You know my story Ruby; and let's just say I like the visual confirmation that my underwear is on instead of just knowing it."

"I see, so that's why you don't like baring it all to the world." Ruby said.

"Well, it depends on the person and the situation; but you would be correct." Saffeara explained.

The room fell into silence as the two women started to daydream.

"Hey, when are we supposed to to arrive at the BD Continent?" Ruby asked.

Saffeara looked at their digital clock, "In thirty minutes; and tomorrow all hell will break loose, are you ready?"

"I've been ready for a long time." Ruby replied.

"You know you don't need that mask anymore, right?"

"I know; but I fight better with it on."


	39. Chapter 39

**A/N: What's up? I'm back with another chapter of RWBY: DarkFall and I will say that it was really fun to right; but that's not what I wanted to to talk about. So a recently finalized for myself several of Saffeara's body specs so I wanted to share them with you.**

 **Height: 5'0"**

 **Age: 22**

 **Bra size(roughly): B44**

 **Weight: 105 lbs**

 **So I wanted to share that so I could clear up some of the previous descriptions about her; but that's enough of me. Please follow, favorite, and review. See you guys in the next chapter.**

"Maelstrom"

In the bowels of the Sequoia Tree flag ship was a large room, roughly the size of a basketball court. The room was cut in half by a large glass wall that was a foot thick and reinforced with sheets of diamond in the center. If one were to look at the room from the sky he would see that the right side of the room was pitch black; and the left side only had a single spotlight pointed down to the floor. It was in this spotlight that Ruby sat in a wooden chair, hunched over. She wore her standard outfit with the cloak that Weiss made for her. Lunar Rose sat in Ruby's carrier which was located on her lower back, just like Crescent Rose. Finally, in her metal hand sat the primary head band of her mask that had been remade.

"It's funny all those years ago, when you attacked Vale. I really trusted you and thought you were a half decent person. Now you're just a wall decoration… Cin-der Fall." Ruby said; her face contorting into a smile.

Through the reinforced glass she saw the naked form of Cinder hanging by a set of cables that were not only keeping her alive; but siphoning her aura away from her in order to power a small portion of the ship's systems. Beneath her was a puddle of urine and blood; the fluids keeping her alive went right threw her and caused her to pee uncontrollably. This in turn would rub her raw; and cause her to bleed. She was in excruciating pain 24/7

Ruby got up from her chair and walked over to the glass wall.

She put her normal hand on the glass, "The _truly_ funny thing though is that I thought you were really pretty; and would have been in heaven if you asked me out. However, your outlook on people changes when they try to kill you. I guess that was God's way of telling me that he had someone better for me."

An alarm on Ruby's scroll went off.

She took her hand off the glass and tapped the touch screen on her belt, silencing the device. She then lifted her mask and slipped over her head, making sure her much longer hair was not caught in it.

"I have to go, Cinder. I'll see you later." Ruby said; her voice distorted somewhat by the mask.

She walked over to a section of the metal wall; then when touched by certain users would open to the outside. She touched it with the index finger of her metal hand and the door slid open with a loud metallic wail. As she walked out the light shut off and Cinder was plunged into darkness once more.

Outside was none other than Orchid; who Ruby hadn't seen in over three months. However, she was much different now as compared to when she first saw her. The first major thing that was different about her was that she no longer had her multicolored eyes. Her eyes were now golden yellow just like Jozy's; and sat behind a pair of thick black glasses. " _I guess she wore contacts this whole time."_ Ruby mused in her head. The second thing that was different about her was that her normally snow white hair was slowly growing more black strands of hair that would soon turn her hair multicolored just like Liz's. This was the only trait that came directly from Liz to be represented in Orchid; well, besides her bust size which Ruby learned early on she hated. However, she seemed to be embracing it more as she wore a white buttoned down shirt that just showed the beginning of her cleavage. The shirt lead down to a pair of black skinny jeans that were secured by a brown belt that had an assortment of different gadgets on it. The ends of her pant legs were tucked into her brown boots; that looked even more beat up after her campaign in Vacuo.

There was one other thing that Ruby had neglected to notice at first. Orchid's hair was an absolute bush. Ruby had never before seen bedhead _that_ bad in her life and she lived with Yang.

"Hey Orchid; did you just wake up?" Ruby asked; her mask hiding a slight chuckle.

"No, I woke up a few hours ago and even had a shower. I guess my hair just hates me today." She said; with a contented sigh.

Ruby smirked under her mask; she was _definitely_ Liz's daughter.

"One hell of a day to have it against you. Are you in the first wave?" Ruby asked; walking down the hallway.

Orchid matched her pace, "No, my men and I are in the second wave; although I'd rather be in the first with you guys."

Ruby stopped in front of the elevator; and turned to Orchid.

She put her hands on her shoulders, "Orchid, I think your parents want you to become a strong leader; but in order to become a strong leader you have to survive long enough to earn people's respect. You made a name for yourself in Vacuo; but you should focus more on doing your current job to the _best_ of your abilities; instead of doing someone else's."

Orchid smirked at Ruby, "Wise words coming from someone almost as old as me."

"Heh, I think I've been in more brushes with death than you have in your entire life so I guess it comes with the job." Ruby said; letting go of Orchid.

Ruby moved into the elevator and waited for Orchid to enter.

"Hey Ruby, did it get hurt to get your new arm?" Orchid asked; stepping into the elevator.

Ruby looked down at her black robotic arm, the orange status lights glowing softly.

"It didn't really hurt; but it felt weird for about a month. Luckily Liz recalibrated it multiple times in order to get it as close to how a real hand would feel." Ruby said.

"I think my dad still feels sorry for having to do that to you." Orchid mentioned.

"I bet he does. He doesn't seem like it most of the time; but I think he cares about us more than he admits." Ruby hypothesized; as the doors opened.

"This is my stop, good luck Red Star." Orchid said; outstretching her hand.

"Same to you, General." Ruby said; wrapping her metal hand gently around the younger girls.

Orchid let go as she turned to leave; and Ruby hit the button that would get her to the hangar bay.

In the last 24 hours the Sequoia Tree fleet had flown across the ocean, to the BD continent, and were now at the "Dragon Head" landmass that would give them a straight shot to Mantle's tundra plains that would eventually lead to Atlas itself. Over the past few hours they had been launching airstrike after airstrike with the intention of softening the Atlysian defenses; however, the Atlysian ground forces had the support of a good majority of their home fleet which was hovering above them at roughly 10,000 feet.

Ruby reached into her vest pocket and withdrew the picture of Weiss, Yang had given her the previous day. She looked over the picture and allowed her mind to get lost in a fantasy for but a moment. The ringing of the elevator brought her back to reality. She pressed the picture to her mask, roughly where her lips would have been, and returned it to her pocket. As the elevator doors opened she withdrew a small earpiece and stuck it in her ear. Reaching down to her belt she touched her scroll and calibrated it making sure that the volume wasn't too loud.

"All commanders of the 1st through 4th armies, how copy?" Ruby asked; walking towards the hangar.

Seconds after, a multitude of the word "Copy" came from the earpiece; one after the other with the last one coming from Connor the old general she had met the previous day. Ruby then switched over to another channel.

"Ruby Rose checking in. You read me, Liz?" she asked; walking into the bright white lights of the hangar bay.

The hangar bay itself was a melting pot of commotion as Ruby's men filed into their respective troop transports.

Static broke on Ruby's earpiece, "Loud and clear, Ruby. How are things down there?"

"Loud and noisy; but everybody seems to be in good spirits." Ruby replied; walking into the crowd.

The minute her red and black boots hit the grated stairs all the commotion ceased as every soldier turned to see the Sequoia Tree's, fabled, red reaper. Ruby smirked underneath her mask as she looked at the faces of some of them and recognized them immediately; and then looked at the newer ones she had never seen before. She started walking towards them; her cape and hair bouncing with every step.

"It's the reaper!" some whispered.

"No way I thought she was a myth!" some whispered back.

Ruby looked in front of her again as she noticed a single soldier approaching her. He was tall and Ruby immediately recognized him from the Hole.

He stopped in front of her, helmet cradled in his left arm, "It's been quite a while Miss Rose."

"It's only been three months; but now a days months feel like years." Ruby responded.

"Indeed they do." he said.

Ruby turned toward the crowd of soldiers.

"My name is Ruby Rose. Some of you may know me; others of you are only just seeing me. I am a huntress from Beacon Academy where I was trained to kill monsters until I was falsely accused of being a monster by Ironwood himself."

The soldiers looked at one another and asked some of the more veteran soldiers if this was true; which they quickly acknowledged as true.

"After I was tortured to the point of insanity I was rescued by the Sequoia Tree and was trained by Elizabeth Glass to kill people. Now here I stand a Red Star in the Sequoia Tree who has killed enough people to earn the nickname 'Reaper'. " Ruby finished; judging the reaction.

The soldiers talked amongst themselves before saluting her. The silent show of respect brought a smile to Ruby's face, although it was hidden behind her mask.

"Soldiers! Fill into your respective troop transports the longer we wait the longer this war lasts!" Ruby ordered.

Everyone of the soldiers stood up straighter before marching into the large troop transports that were graciously stolen from the Atlysians. As they started to move, Ruby, walked over to a single Bullhead that had it bay doors open. She boarded the Bullhead and immediately noticed a single soldier sitting in the bay itself. He was young, probably only nineteen; and looked considerably green.

"Who are you?" Ruby asked.

The soldier jumped up visibly startled, "I'm, uh, Private Zachary Arrons. I've been assigned to your security detail m-ma'am."

Ruby cocked an eyebrow and put her metal hand on her hip, "Only you?"

"I-I believe high command felt that you could take care of yourself; and I'm just here for utility." Zach said; nerves getting the best of him.

"So you're my meat shield, great." Ruby said; rolling her eyes.

"I, uh, don't think that was the official job description." he responded.

"Well then I hope you can shoot better than you manage yourself." Ruby said; pointing at his rifle that looked like it had only ever been fired a handful of times.

Truthfully, Ruby hated being this harsh to someone who was obviously new; but when push comes to shove she needed him combat ready.

"I will try my best." he said; his grip tightening on the forestock of his rifle as he set down.

Ruby accepted that as fact and went to check on the pilot. When she opened the door she found Sergeant Andrea Jackson sitting in her pilot seat reading an adult magazine. She had caramel colored hair and auburn eyes; her lips were covered in red lipstick that curled up into a small smile of satisfaction as her eyes danced across the pages. Across from her sat her copilot, Eric Liverseed; who was chewing on a cigarette, filling the cockpit with smoke.

"We good to go, Jackson?" Ruby asked; looking over her shoulder at the magazine.

"Yep, I was just psyching myself up before; before the big throwdown." she replied; her accent somewhat thick.

"I see; and what about you Eric?" Ruby asked.

"I've been ready since I woke up this morning." looking over his aviators.

"Good to know; by the way Saffeara has another magazine if you want to buy it from her Andrea." Ruby said; a sly look on her face.

Andrea put her magzine away in a small compartment in the side of her seat, "She's going to bankrupt me one day; but it'll all change once she actually accepts my offer for a date."

"I think you have quite some time to wait before that happens." Ruby said; walking away from the door.

"Then I'll stick to guys until that happens." Andrea yelled; shutting the door.

"I bet you will." Ruby said; smirking underneath her mask.

Ruby withdrew Lunar Rose and set it between her legs as she sat next to Zach. Silence enveloped the bay as its doors closed; and its white LED lights came on; they were five minutes from departure.

"Hey Zach, where are you from?" Ruby asked; scratching her metal fingers on the glossy purple paintjob on Lunar Rose.

"I'm from the agricultural district of Vale." he replied.

"Cool, it's nice to meet another Valysian so far away from home. Do you have any immediate family back home?" Ruby then asked.

"Just my parents and my girlfriend." he replied.

"What are you doing in a job like this with just a girlfriend?" Ruby asked; somewhat shocked.

"Heh, kind of stupid I know; but my girlfriend was recently found to be pregnant and I want to take care of her, but I need money. What about you Miss Rose?" he asked; slowly becoming more sociable.

Ruby closed her eyes, "I'm engaged to a girl I met when I first entered Beacon."

"I take it she doesn't worry about you; and has full confidence that you'll return home safe and sound." he conjectured.

Ruby chuckled, "No fucking way. She worries about me even more than my overprotective sister does; although she doesn't pester me about it. I'll give you some advice, when you get on that battlefield never forget who you're fighting for because it can keep you alive if you let it."

"I'll keep that in mind, ma'am." he said.

Suddenly static broke across Ruby's earpiece; ending the conversation.

"All first wave leaders report in." Liz ordered.

All morning Liz had been on the bridge coordinating the various squads, and aircraft it would take to pull this invasion off. Around her sat an assortment of technicians and pilots all specializing in different fields that kept the flagship a float. Behind her stood Jozy who was currently leaning against the metal door frame; his arms crossed. Jozy was going to be apart of the third wave with Kale and would provide a majority of the reserve firepower if they needed it.

A large holographic screen descended from the ceiling; and stopped in front of Liz. A picture of Ruby appeared on the screen.

"Ruby Rose reporting in." Ruby said; her voice coming through the screen.

Another screen descended and a picture of Saffeara appeared on the screen.

"Saffeara Vain reporting in." It said.

Yet another screen came down and this one showed a picture of Tyler.

"Tyler Payne reporting in." This one said.

Liz took a breath and the room appeared to freeze.

"Begin the operation." she said.

Suddenly the glass windows of the bridge started to shake violently as a Sequoia Tree capital ship flew over them; its thrusters in full afterburn.

Ruby switched her voice channel over to her subordinate's.

"It's begun all ships take off and bring the fight to the enemy. Good luck to you all." She said; cutting the connection.

Immediately she and Zach felt the Bullhead lift off the hangar floor and fly out and into the sky to join the rest of the first wave.

It took them about ten minutes to fly across the small channel between BD and Mantle; they were already inside of the meat grinder before they even hit landfall. All around Ruby's Bullhead flak rounds and lasers exploded as the Atlysian fleet tried to fend off the Sequoia Tree fleet and help out their ground forces. Ruby was belted into her seat as the Bullhead was rocked back and forth; the LED lights flickering as each explosion just barely missed them.

"Jackson how close are we?" Ruby inquired.

"A mile out ma'am; but this flak is givin' us all kinds of hell. I'm seeing birds from both sides dropping like flies." she replied; a slight hint of anxiety in her voice.

"Roger that." Ruby said.

As Ruby brought her hand away from her ear a flak cannon scored a lucky hit and shredded it. Large tungsten rounds went through the Bullhead's armor and left holes inside of the troop bay. Ruby unbuckled her belt and hit the floor covering her head. Zach was already dead; getting killed in the first volley that peppered the Bullhead. His blood stained Ruby's arms and bangs as she got up off the ground and stumbled over to the cockpit door.

"Jackson." Ruby choked out as she opened the door.

She stopped when she saw the damage to the cockpit and its inhabitants. The glass was completely shattered and the electronics were destroyed and sparking. Ruby turned to Eric who was no longer a man; instead he looked more like a bag of meat. His legs had been severed; and were laying sideways on the floor while his torso was severed from the rest of his waist. His face was caved in from the large round that hit him and killed him.

It took everything that Ruby had not to turn around and pull her mask off so she could vomit. It was the most disgusting sight she had ever seen.

"R-Ruby." A weak voice came from the pilot's seat.

Ruby turned and saw Andrea sitting in the seat; her right hand white knuckling the joystick while her left was trying to hold her intestines inside of her. Blood was coming from between her lips as she tried to focus on keeping them in the air.

"Oh my God, Andrea let me see!" Ruby yelled; moving over to her.

"No Ruby, literally if I move my hand my guts are going all over the floor." She said; pushing her hand harder.

"B-But I can-" she was cut off by a large stream of blood hitting the floor.

"Ruby there is nothing you can do to fix this. I was meant to die here." she said her voice pained.

Ruby lowered her head.

"Listen you need to get down to the ground and win this fight. After you get out I'm going to fly this bird into that damn triple A battery and show them what happens when you fuck with the Sequoia Tree." she said; sweat dripping off her chin.

Ruby steeled herself, "I understand."

"Heh, good." another stream of blood fell to the ground, "When you get back tell my little sister what happened; after all she's really proud of her older sister if you know what I mean."

Ruby nodded, "I will; good luck sergeant."

"Good luck to you, now get out of here this birds going straight to hell." she said.

With that Ruby opened the bay door and jumped out of the rapidly descending Bullhead. Her eyes were blinded by the sun for a moment as her cape flapped uncontrollably in the wind. When her eyes adjusted she heard a loud bang and looked to her left to see a massive Atlysian Capitol ship falling out of the sky, various parts of its superstructure on fire. The nose hit the ground with a loud blast that sent soil flying; and killing anyone underneath as it crashed into the ground. Ruby flipped around to see the Bullhead accelerate and crash into the vary AA guns that shot it down. A massive fireball erupted from the wreckage killing any who might have survived. " _Payback's a bitch, Atlas."_ Ruby thought; before sprouting her wings and diving towards the battlefield.

She grabbed Lunar Rose and deployed it to its scythe form. She stretched it back,poised to swing it the instant she got close to the ground. The ground came fast and Ruby unfolded her wings; lifting her up a bit before she landed gracefully in front of two Atlysian soldiers. In one fluid motion she not only cut them in half , but also cut their heads off as well. She turned slightly around, Lunar Rose dripping with fresh blood, behind her were two Sequoia Tree soldiers who jumped into the trench with her.

"We're with you, ma'am." They said; crouching down and pointing their rifles in the different directions of the trench.

"Then follow me I'm going to cut a path to Tyler." She said; retracting her wings and raising Lunar Rose over her head.

She then speed boosted forwards and the soldiers followed her to the best of their abilities; shooting Atlysain soldiers that tried to get behind Ruby. She continued through the trench slashing any enemy that got in her way; before long the trench was almost entirely clear which allowed her men to take up defensive positions inside the trench as they moved along the major roadway that would lead to Atlas.

As Ruby was nearing the end of the trench she saw a group of soldiers fighting with appeared to be a team of huntsmen and huntresses. The were fighting valiantly, even killing two of the four huntsmen; however they were still overpowered by the last two. Ruby jabbed Lunar Rose into the ground and took aim. She shot the huntsmen, taking his head clean off before the huntress even heard the shot. Ruby then pointed Crescent Rose behind her and fired propelling herself towards the huntress who had just recently turned towards her. She grabbed the huntress' throat with her metal hand and lifted the much taller woman at least a foot in the air. She dropped her sickle as her hands curled around Ruby's metal arm; eyes bulging out of her head as Ruby continued to squeeze her.

"You're not a Huntress you're just a murderer." Ruby said; squeezing harder.

With a mechanical wail from Ruby's arm she crushed the Huntress' esophagus and also broke her neck. Ruby threw her lifeless body into the mud where she felt it belonged; it hit with a splash. What Ruby didn't know though was that another huntsmen was sneaking up behind her; yet he would soon meet his fate as well.

Suddenly Ruby heard the wail of an electric machine gun and jumped into the air. This gave her the opportune time to see the huntsmen, who had been sneaking up on her, get cut in half by a large stream of tracer rounds. When she landed she turned towards the direction of the tracer rounds and saw Tyler moving over the mound of the trench; the tri barrels of his machine gun, Abacus. smoking like a wildfire.

"Are you alright, Ruby, you look a little pale." Tyler asked; as both of them jumped into the trench.

"I'll talk about it later." Ruby said; putting a new magazine in Lunar Rose.

"I see I'm sorry." Tyler said; his face hidden behind his blacked out visor; yet Ruby could tell it was sincere.

"Don't worry about it they died like heroes." Ruby said; popping up and shooting two soldiers before returning to her crouched down stance.

"I agree so let not disappoint our heroes, Ruby." Tyler said.

Ruby looked at him with a determined smile on her face. With that both of them jumped out of the trench and started to whittle down the next trenches forces. The trenches muddy bottom was covered in pools of blood as the two Primals made the Atlysian forces collapse. However, at one point both Tyler and Ruby were rushed by two squads. Ruby killed the first four men; but the fifth grabbed Lunar Rose and held it in place as another soldier ran past her; holding a knife.

"Tyler!" Ruby yelled; as she kicked the soldier in the groin and slashed him across the chest.

Tyler, who was fighting over his weapon with another soldier, turned to see the other soldier come behind him, poised to stab him in the space between his armor. However, he never got that far as a long, black tentacle wrapped itself around his throat. Another black tentacle stabbed the soldier fighting over Tyler's gun. They were then drug away from Tyler and towards the tentacle's origin point, Centipede. The stabbed soldier was immediately thrown into a nearby thicket; but the one that was still alive was squirming in Centipede's grip.

"Let go of me you fucking monster!" he yelled; pulling a pistol from his belt.

He shot three rounds at Centipede who didn't feel them at all as they went right through him. Centipede then impaled him on a metal tank trap that was covered in barbed wire his screams silenced in an instant.

Tyler turned to see Centipede standing with a deathly silence. " _So if Centipede's here then that means…"_ Tyler never finished the thought as yet another team of Huntsmen appeared out of a concrete bunker that was roughly next to them. Ruby moved closer to Tyler and Centipede and prepared herself for the oncoming fight. However, the fight would never come for her at least.

Suddenly they all turned to the exploding blue sky as a high pitched whistle graced their ears. What they saw was a large red comet coming towards them at incredible speeds; faster than Ruby herself. Ruby's adrenaline kicked in allowing her to see in slow motion as the comet was mere feet above the team of Huntsmen. However, as the comet moved even closer she saw the red hue peel away like ribbon to reveal Saffeara, claws poised to strike. She landed on the team leader, pulverizing him from the chest down. She then withdrew Evercaster and decapitated the other three huntsmen while they were stunned from the massive shock wave she created. Ruby recalled a previous conversation she and Saffeara had about a month ago; and remembered what the name of the "Red Comet" actually was. It was called "Wolf's Bane" and it was the same move she used against Glynda; and Commander Bradley.

Saffeara cleaned off Evercaster before returning it its sheath on her back. She then turned on her heel with a small smile on her face.

"I wondered how long it would take me to find you guys. Did you guys get blown off course like I did?" Saffeara asked; in the brief interlude.

"Yeah, it's kind of an understatement." Ruby said; putting her metal hand on her hip again.

As she said that an assortment of Sequoia Tree vehicles pulled up and dropped men off to start securing the area. Ruby reached onto her belt and grabbed her scroll and her canteen. Taking a drink she scrolled over to her command screen and was about to declare the mission a success; however she stopped when all three of them heard a loud banging from the other side of a metal door that lead into the bunker. Ruby put her scroll away and pointed Lunar Rose's basic sniper rifle form at the door. Tyler followed suit as did Saffeara and the other soldiers who stacked up on the door. All of a sudden the door exploded and engulfed the nearby soldiers in napalm. From the fired stepped out a large huntsmen in a gasmask and flame retardant suit. In his left hand was an incredibly powerful flamethrower.

"RUN! Arbiter!" Tyler yelled; shooting Abacus while moving backwards.

Ruby and Saffeara immediately disengaged; and ran towards the nearest trench. Tyler continued to shoot at him; however the bullets were bouncing right of his armored suit. " _Fuck this."_ Tyler thought; turning around and running towards the trenches.

"Burn!" The Arbiter yelled; shooting a long stream of napalm at Tyler.

Centipede jabbed two tentacles into the ground and sling shotted himself far out of the range of the flamethrower. Tyler rolled into the same trench Ruby and Saffeara had taken shelter in. Parts of his armor were smoldering as they had gotten a little too close to the napalm that covered the ground in front of him. Saffeara and Ruby went over to him and started to pat down the cinders.

"Well that was fun." Tyler said; standing up and just barely looking over the edge of the trench.

In front of the trench stood the Arbiter shooting his flamethrower wildly; kill a large majority of the Sequoia Tree soldiers around him.

"Goddamnit, why are Kale and Jozy always late?" Tyler asked himself.

"Wrong, Kale is the one who's always late." a deep metallic voice said; from behind him.

The three of them turned to see Jozy standing there with his mask on and Obelisk pointed at the ground. The fire in front of them made his white hair glow like neon.

"Where's Kale?" Ruby asked.

"He's right here." Jozy said; pointing Obelisk to his right.

Suddenly a purple portal appeared; and Reflection Breaker's barrel protruded out of it. With one loud crack Kale fired and shot the flamethrower's tank, engulfing the Arbiter in its flames. Kale stepped out of the portal; Reflection Breaker pointed towards the ground.

"Watch yourself, I don't think I killed him." he said; pulling the bolt back.

"Kale and I will deal with the Arbiter; you guys get our men together and push the rest of the Atlysian forces out of this area." Jozy commanded jumping to the other side of the trench.

Tyler, Ruby, and Saffeara nodded before jumping out of trench and heading towards their lines.

Kale and Jozy moved towards the fire and stopped once they saw the Arbiter walk out of the fire. He was completely fine and had also turned his flamethrower into a double bladed sword. Jozy and Kale looked at each other before running at him and engaged him with their swords. However, his suit concealed that he was actually much stronger than he looked as he threw both of them away. Kale just slid back on his feet; but Jozy was throw into the air. The Arbiter jumped up in the air at blazing speeds; and positioned his dual bladed sword so that he could stab Jozy. Jozy chuckled as he spun out of the way and ended up behind the Arbiter as he fell. He pointed Obelisk at him.

" _Madoka Vajarta._ (Death Desire)" Jozy said.

Suddenly Obelisk left his hand and split its liquid form into several projectiles that penetrated the Arbiter's suit. He screamed as blood fell to the ground with him. Jozy landed on his feet and watched as Kale went over to the Arbiter and cut his head off. He then turned to Jozy and nodded; as Jozy raised his hand and brought Obelisk back to him.

It took four hours to route out all remaining Atlysian forces that still occupied the area. After the battle it was determined that over two hundred men had been killed and one hundred had been wounded; however, 4,000 Atlysian soldiers had been killed and the rest were retreating back to Atlas. Ruby and Saffeara had finally got some rest later that night as they sat in a tree inside their camp. From their position they could see the bright lights and tall skyscrapers of the Atlysian capitol. Ruby felt a shiver go down her spine as she realized just how close she was to her final goal.


	40. Chapter 40

**A/N: Hey guys I'm back and with another chapter of RWBY: Darkfall. So I actually finished this chapter on Thursday; but for consistency's sake I uploaded it it today. Also for those of you who like the finalized dimensions of Saffeara I actually have the finalized dimensions for Ruby Rose so here we go.**

 **Height: 5'11''**

 **Age:18**

 **Bra size: C39(roughly)**

 **Weight: 161 lbs.**

 **Those are Ruby's final dimensions for RWBY: Darkfall. With that done I am going to get out of here so please don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. See you guys later.**

"Hunting the Black"

Ruby and Saffeara sat in a tree that gave them a million lien view of Atlas from their camp. The day had grown to night and with it the temperature fell to the lower thirties, even though it was already spring. A gust of wind blew through the tree and sent the two girls hair wild; the moonlight revealing the solemn faces they wore.

"Heh, tame that peanutbutter hair of yours, Ruby." Saffeara joked; even though she felt the same stinging sensation as Ruby.

Ruby smoothed her hair down, a smirk on her face, "I know I need to get it cut."

"Aww, but I think it looks better when it's longer; no offense of course." Saffeara said.

"Thanks... it's hard to believe Andrea is really gone." Ruby said; getting to the root of the problem.

"Yeah, I might be stupid; but I will say that I kind of miss her hitting on me." Saffeara said; looking at the ground that seemed so far away.

Ruby chuckled, "Funny thing is before we left I told her about the newest magazine you got."

"Oh yeah? Was she interested?" Saffeara asked.

"What do you think?" Ruby said; giving Saffeara a playful look.

Saffeara laughed a bit, "Then I guess in memory of her I should put it to good use."

Saffeara stood up on the tree limb and jumped down to the ground; her light weight form barely disturbing the leaves on the ground.

"If you need me I'll be in the tent; but you might want to come back sometime later. I would rather not get walked in on." Saffeara said; walking away.

"I here you. See you later, Saffeara." Ruby said; raising her hand.

Saffeara turned and waved back before disappearing behind a green tent. " _I guess different people have different ways of coping."_ Ruby thought; swinging her legs back and forth as she looked up at the moon. She stayed there for a few minutes before letting out a sigh and jumping down. Once on the ground she shoved both her hands in her vest pockets and started to walk around the camp.

The camp itself was just a safety precaution since there weren't enough men in total to launch any sort of attack; but then again that wasn't the thing the Atlysians were afraid of anyway. Above the camp, hovering at just about 30,000 feet was the Sequoia Tree fleet who stood largely unopposed as it had smashed the Atlsyian fleet over 5 hours earlier. As Ruby walked she was showered in the glow of the fires that the soldiers huddled around and talked among themselves. Several other lanterns were lit in the camp; although they had electronic counterparts Ruby liked the natural light better, plus it was cheaper. As Ruby walked she noticed Kale sitting in a tree eating noodles with chopsticks. Ruby chuckled and waved at him. Kale set his chopsticks on the bowl and waved back before returning to his lovely seasoned noodles.

Ruby returned her hand to her pocket and took few more steps before she looked up and saw Jozy and Orchid sitting at a table holding cards in their hands. A small smile graced her lips as she walked towards them.

"Evening, Ruby." Jozy said; placing a card down on the table.

"Hey what's up?" Ruby asked; grabbing a nearby chair and sitting in it.

"Oh, you know playing the only game my dad knows, Go fish" Orchid said; a smile similar to Ruby's on her face.

"Hey, you loved this game when you were younger." Jozy said.

"I know; but I also vaguely remember you letting me win most of the time." Orchid said; smirking at him.

Jozy chuckled, "Can you blame me? You were five it's part of my 'dad' job."

Ruby looked at Jozy as he said this and noticed he had the same twinkle in his eyes that she saw when her dad looked at her. This brought a question to Ruby's mind that she had been wanting to ask for quite sometime.

"He Jozy how did you meet, Liz? I mean I know that you met at Beacon; but how did you _meet_ her?" Ruby asked; with a sly look.

Jozy and Orchid looked at each other before laughing a bit.

"I don't think we have time for that story Ruby." Jozy said.

"Why not?" Ruby asked; slightly bummed out.

"Because it's ridiculously long. No joke it takes like hours for my dad to tell you that story." Orchid explained.

"Plus I think Lizzy, tells it better anyway." Jozy added.

"I see; I'll have to ask her about it when I see her the next time." Ruby said; reclining back in her chair.

Sometime passed as Ruby watched Jozy and Orchid finish their game.

"Hey Ruby, what's on your ear?" Orchid asked.

Ruby cocked an eyebrow before pointing to her right one.

Orchid shook her head, "No, the other one."

Ruby reached up with her human hand and swished her finger around her ear. When she brought it back it was covered in a red tary substance.

Ruby sighed, "It's more dried blood which means there's probably still some left in my hair; so it looks like I'll be taking my shower now."

"Night, Ruby." both said as she got up.

"Night you guys." Ruby yelled back, walking away.

Orchid held her head up with her head up as she looked at Ruby walking away.

"She's got a great butt." Orchid said; rather bluntly.

Jozy looked at her, "Yes, she does my sexually confused daughter."

"I told you I was straight." Orchid said; getting visibly more agitated.

Jozy chuckled, "You haven't showed me any evidence of that yet."

"That's because all the guys who are interested in me are pussies." Orchid said; puffing out her cheeks.

This made Jozy laugh even more, "I think that's your own problem."

"Shut up, Dad." she said; turning away from him.

Meanwhile, Ruby had made her way to the shower tent that had been set up in a more private area of the map. The tent was even separated between gender types which Ruby greatly appreciated. She quickly took off her heeled boots that were still caked in now dried mud. She then stripped off her pants and her pink panties and only then just remembered something very important.

"Shit." Ruby cursed; pulling her scroll out of her pants pocket.

She quickly dialed Saffeara and turned her back to the door; her cape shielding her naked lower half. " _I hope she's done."_ Ruby thought, her cheeks heating up a little.

"Hello?" Saffeara asked; somewhat groggily.

"Hey, Saffeara I hate to have to ask this; but could you bring me my sleep wear to the showers?" Ruby asked.

She was met with a deep yawn, "Sure want anything specific?"

"No, I just need something to sleep in." Ruby said; looking towards the door.

"Okay, I'll see you in a few." Saffeara said; hanging up.

Ruby breathed sigh of relief as she set her scroll down on the chair that her pants resided on. She then went back to undressing herself by unhooking her cape from the shoulders of her vest. It fell to the ground silently and Ruby bent over to pick it up. She folded it neatly and delicately before setting it on her pants. Finally she pulled her zipper on her vest down and worked her arms out of its arm holes. She felt sudden burst of euphoria as her chest was freed. She then turned the vest over and found the source of the blood on the back of her ear. The back of the vest had two large holes in it that were without a doubt caused by her wings sprouting out of her back. Her thoughts drifted to Weiss who had bought her the vest.

"Sorry, babe." she muttered, setting the vest down on the chair.

With her fully stripped down she started the water and waited for it to get warm. While she did this she turned towards a full body mirror in the room and just looked at herself. From her toned arms, to her protruding abs that were cut perfectly; and finally her muscular hips and legs gave off a strong sexiness about her. If that didn't do it her more defined curves would do that equally as well. Ruby smoothed down her sides and to be honest was still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that her fifteen year old, _flat,_ body turned into this pinnacle of womanhood.

"Well, at least I know Weiss likes it." Ruby said; trying to act like Yang for a moment.

Ruby immediately felt awkward about talking to herself while she was nude standing in front of a mirror. " _Maybe this is why she calls me a dunce."_ Ruby mused; stepping into the warm shower.

Goosebumps covered Ruby's skin as it hit the warm water. It was at this point that she realized how many knots her muscles were in and was loving how the water instantly loosened them up. Ruby stuck her head in the water and let it soak into her black and brown hair. Ruby looked down at the water and noticed that it was a pink color as it drained. Apparently, she was covered in more blood than she thought. " _Damn it, Zach. Why did you have to go before me?"_ Ruby thought to herself; a few stray tears washing down the drain. Ruby quickly restrained her emotions and went to the business of washing herself thoroughly. She took extra care in washing the blood out of the metal crevices on her arm so that she could avoid rusting. She then went to washing her hair which would be the only time she would wash it this week since it was easier that way. Had her hair been the same length it had been three months ago she would have washed it everyday. After that it only took a few minutes to get fully washed and get out of the shower. Wrapping a towel around herself she patiently waited for Saffeara to arrive; which didn't take too long. She soon heard Saffeara's bare feet tapping on the floor as she rounded the corner with a black, drawstring, bag clutched in both hands.

"Oh, thank God. You're a lifesaver." Ruby said; taking the bag from her.

Saffeara chuckled, "Well, I couldn't let my best friend walk around in just towel; or worst."

She gave Ruby a smirk before turning around and letting the younger woman get dressed.

Ruby opened the bag and pulled out a black tank top; and a pair of red boy shorts. She quickly slipped both of them on and adjusted them accordingly.

"Okay, I'm ready." Ruby said; letting Saffeara turn around.

Saffeara turned around with a mirthful smile on her lips, "Cute as ever, Ruby."

Ruby blushed faintly, "Thanks."

"You've been crying haven't you?" Saffeara asked; already knowing the answer.

Ruby's eyes went wide, "How did you-"

"Faunus senses, Ruby, I can smell the salt on your face; and I can smell the scent of blood in the shower. Now there's only two things that could mean: One, you are on one hell of a period and we should make you see a doctor right away; or two, that wasn't your blood. I'm thinking it's number two." Saffeara said; cutting her off.

Ruby gave no response; instead she just stared at the floor. However, she her head rose quickly when she felt Saffeara hug her. She froze for a second before putting an around around Saffeara's back. Compared to to any other girl she knew, Saffeara, felt insanely fragile; like she could break her at any minute.

"I know Weiss probably does this to cheer you up; but she's not here so I guess you'll have to settle for me." Saffeara said; trying her best.

"Thanks, I'm okay now." Ruby said.

Saffeara pulled away from her and smiled at her, "Great!"

"We should get back to the tent." Ruby said; picking up her clothes.

"Agreed." Saffeara said; walking out of the showers with Ruby.

The two women walked back to their tent at a leisurely pace. Their bare feet thumped on the dry ground.

"So how was the magazine?" Ruby asked; a sly look on her face.

Saffeara shrugged her shoulders, "It was kind of bland; and before you ask, yes I did finish."

"Oh, so that's why you were asleep when I called you. Your moment of intimacy knocked you out didn't it?" Ruby teased.

Saffeara looked at Ruby with the same sly look, "You want me to kick your ass don't you?"

Ruby laughed, "No, I was just teasing you."

This made Saffeara laugh as well. Before the two knew it they were back at their tent and both entered quickly as the felt the temperature start to drop. The trees blowing as a cold front swept through the valley that they occupied.

Inside they were greeted by two beds with brown comforters; Saffeara's was obviously unmade as she had been asleep before hand. To their left was an old wood coffee table that looked like it had been dropped a couple or ten times before it arrived in their tent. Beyond that was a hamper that was currently empty; but Ruby intended to fill very soon. Saffeara walked over to her closet and slipped her robe over her head revealing that she was completely naked; which as Ruby knew was a rarity for her.

"Sorry, I didn't get a chance to put my underwear on as I was trying to get your clothes to you. Do you mind?" Saffeara asked; her back to Ruby.

"It's fine just keep your back to me and I won't be able to see a thing." Ruby said; trying to ease her mind.

"O-Okay." Saffeara said; grabbing a pare of pair of black panites and her favorite white bra.

Ruby chuckled to herself as she made note of how Saffeara would revert back to a innocent little girl when she was fully nude. Ruby herself didn't care if she was fully naked or not; she was faithful to Weiss and that was a fact. After Saffeara got dressed both went to bed. Ruby found out she was more exhausted than she thought by the fact that when her head hit the pillow she immediately passed out. Saffeara soon followed suit her eyelids drifting shut once again.

The next day came and was relatively easy going on everyone in the Sequoia Tree's leadership. Most of the fighting consisted of systematically pushing the Atlysian Army back into the walls of Atlas; and the other half of the mission was to work with the surrounding villages. However, as night fell the real battle began as the Sequoia Tree's roots broke through the defensive lines around Atlas and took the fight to the city itself.

An explosion went off on the side of one of the city's skyscrapers and sent large chunks of debris falling to the ground; turning a squad of Atlysian soldiers in red paste. Saffeara sat on a steel I beam and surveyed her handiwork as the wind blew her hood's ears every which way. Above her were storm clouds that every so often would light up with lightening. Inside of the clouds was the Sequoia Tree fleet that was launching ship after ship and sending them towards the fight. Saffeara watched as two jetpack wearing huntsmen flew up to her from one of the darkened rooftops; both holding explosive weapons that could killed her instantly.

"How cute." Saffeara muttered; with a blissful smile.

Suddenly, something move behind them that filled the air with rose petals. The bodies erupted into blood and bile as they fell from the air; limps seemingly falling from nowhere. Saffeara looked up from her sitting position to see Ruby flying in front of her.

She chuckled, "The Sequoia Tree's Reaper… Ruby Rose."

Ribbon appeared out of thin air and wrapped itself around Saffeara. Glowing with a red light she shot herself towards the main street where the Sequoia Tree's tanks were meeting the most resistance. In this particular area, Orchid, was tirelessly working to break the Atlysian lines. The fighting was fierce in this area and most of her men were pinned down by Atlysian laser fire. Orchid crouched down behind the corner of an adjacent building and observed what exactly was in front of them. She didn't like what she saw as there were several squads of Atlysian soldiers hiding in the rubble that had fallen from the rooftops. Orchid sighed as she realized that there was no way they were getting passed that blockade with somebody going behind it. She switched her katanas over to their shotgun forms and prepared to run towards the blockade. " _Well if somebody's going to do it; it might as well be me."_ she reasoned with herself. However, before she could take off a hand grabbed her shoulder.

She turned to see Centipede standing behind her; eerie silence enveloping him. Orchid sat there wide eyed as the masked man let go of her shoulder and casually walked in front of the blockade. Both armies stopped shooting at each other in order to observe what Centipede would do. He continued to walk towards them with his feet making loud thudding sounds on the damaged pavement.

"Stop! Halt!" The Atlysian commander yelled; trying in vain to stop his approach.

"Fire!" he finally gave the order allowing his men to mow Centipede down.

His men responded according shooting their advanced laser rifles in tune with their standard Dust rounds. However, Centipede's body was so weak that the high caliber rounds would go right through him doing little damage. The lasers would hit him; and some would actually do enough damage to merit him taking more than a second to heal. He finally made it up to the Atlysian lines and the first thing he did was send a single tentacle after the Commander who couldn't react in time. The tentacle stabbed him in the chest and caused his heart to fly threw his back and plop to the ground in a bloody pile. Centipede then retracted his tentacle and lopped the Commander's head off ; it rolled to the feet of a nearby soldier who looked at it in horror. Centipede hovered his tentacle over his head; the blood dripped off of it and started to pool on the ground. He walked in between the separate lines and looked to either side. In a matter of seconds two additional tentacles sprouted from him and skewered both lines of soldiers like a perverse shishkebab. Orchid saw this and commanded her men to rush the position and make a path for their tanks; however she failed to notice that a single Atlysian sniper had flanked around her and was slowly moving towards her, knife poised to stab her in the back. As he moved closer Orchid his boot hit a patch of gravel and the sound alerted the younger girl. She turned around poised to shoot him with her shotgun; but he grabbed her guns and started to fight with her. She grit her teeth as she tried to wrench her guns free from the man's seemingly iron grip. He soon let go of one of her weapons; but only to punch her in the face. The strike hit with a crack as Orchid was knocked to the wet pavement. The sniper brushed his brown hair out of the way and picked up his knife. Orchid was still in a daze as she felt her bruised cheek rupture and start to bleed. The sniper raised his knife to stab her; but never got the job done as his head exploded, leaving only a jaw to still be attached to his neck. The loud crack of a rifle followed soon after which brought Orchid back to her senses. She sat up in time to feel the first raindrops of an oncoming downpour. A large pillar of water formed in front of her; and then refined its shape into Kale. Orchid stood up; and adjusted her glasses so she could see more clearly.

Kale moved over to her and lightly grabbed her chin so he could move her head to the right. The bruise had turned her entire cheek red; and was swollen terribly. Orchid suddenly felt something hard in her mouth and couldn't resist the urge to spit. She moved Kale's arm away and spit out a bloody, white, object. It was one of her molars.

"Son of a bitch, now I'm really going to catch hell from your mother." Kale said; putting Reflection Breaker on his back.

He reached into his robes and withdrew a white handkerchief and went back over to Orchid.

"Open, Ori." Kale commanded.

She followed orders and opened her mouth the hole where her tooth had once was flooding her mouth with blood. Kale carefully set the handkerchief over the hole and closed her mouth.

"Smanks." she said; her mouth full.

Kale sighed, "Between your dad and you I'm amazed Liz hasn't pulled her hair out yet."

Orchid couldn't respond since they both saw Saffeara walking towards them; her red eyes glowing from beneath her hood.

"What happened? I called you twenty minutes ago." Kale asked.

"Sorry, had to deal with a team of huntsmen." Saffeara said; nodding towards her bloody fingernails.

Kale nodded; and started to talk on his earpiece. Saffeara looked over to Orchid and noticed her predicament.

"What the hell happened to you?" Saffeara asked; her eyes filled with concern.

Orchid pointed to the dead body on the ground.

"Oh, I see; well do you want me to heal it?" Saffeara said; lifting her hand.

Orchid removed the bloody handkerchief, "No thanks, I'd rather keep this scar."

Saffeara smiled; happy about Orchid's decision.

"I should probably get back to the fight. Hey,Uncle, you want this back?" Orchid asked; holding up the bloody handkerchief.

Kale waved it off, "Just keep it, Ori."

Orchid smiled and nodded, "Good luck to you guys."

With that Orchid ran off and disappeared behind a building. Saffeara watched her before turning to Kale.

She placed her left hand on her hip, her skin glistening with rainwater.

"Uncle?" she asked; with a smirk.

"What, it's what she calls me." Kale said.

Above them Ruby was circling; her Nevermore wings letting her glide through the watery air. Her hair was absolutely soaked; and mask had water dripping from its chin. Suddenly a firebolt was shot from a nearby rooftop and hit her left wing, blowing it off completely. A volley of Dust rounds were then shot after the firebolt and turned her other wing into swiss cheese. Ruby grunted in pain as she fell to one of the rooftops. When she hit the rooftop, she rolled into a half crouched position. Her breathing was pained as she looked at her one remaining wing that was bleeding black blood out of it. She squinted her black and yellow eyes as she retracted it back into her body; her cloak hiding the hole it came out of.

She focused her attention back in front of her as she heard several footsteps coming towards her slowly. Through the black raindrops she saw Mercury coming towards her with team FNKI behind him. Ruby squinted her eyes at them as she stood up.

"It looks like the birdy's fallen for the trap. How's it feel to know that you're no longer in the safety of the skies?" Mercury asked; a mocking smile on his face.

Ruby gave no response she just stared at him as water dripped from her messy hair.

"Tsk, you can stay silent for as long as you like; but it won't save you. After I kill you I'm going to-" Mercury was cut off.

"Don't patronize me cripple. Your voice hurts my ears." Ruby said; slowly grabbing Lunar Rose off her back.

Mercury grit his teeth, "Okay, you're done! I'm going to skull fuck you into submission!"

He ran at her and went to kick her in the right side of the head; which would have knocked her out. However, Ruby just raised her metal arm and stopped his boot inches from her head. Mercury's eyes went wide as he didn't even dent that arm.

"Nice boots, Mercury, do they make 'em for men?" Ruby asked; smacking him with Lunar Rose, causing a metallic thudding sound.

Mercury staggered back as Ruby went behind him and grabbed the back of his head. Ruby's metal arm felt like it could crush his head at any moment; but it never got to that point. Instead she lead him over to the edge of the roof.

"Although I want to beat your ass to a pulp there's somebody who you really need to meet." Ruby said.

When she said this Mercury tried to reverse it on her and throw her off of the roof. She saw this coming and dodged his grab. She then kicked him off the roof; disappearing from eyesight.

Ruby turned back to Team FNKI who were stunned at what had just taken place. She pulled her mask's band off of her head; and let it hang off her face. She reached up to her mouth with her human hand and bit down on her finger hard. This sent a solid stream of blood running down her mouth that was quickly washed away from the rain.

"Team FNKI…" Ruby started to laugh. "What a stupid ass name; clearly Atlas never cared about you. Hey, Flynt you wanna see why they call me reaper?"

Team FNKI just took up defensive positioned and waited for what would come next.

Down below Mercury had landed on a pile of rubble; and was only somewhat conscious. An explosion nearby jolted him awake; and made him look over and notice a seven story building falling down. " _The Sequoia Tree is moving towards the city center; I have to warn Ironwood."_ Mercury thought; getting up. He jumped when pushed himself up his; left arm throbbing with a searing pain. He pushed the armor to the side and found a piece of rebar jutting out from his bicep. Mercury cursed under his breath as he grabbed the metal bar and ripped it out of his arm. He then placed his hand on his arm in an attempt to stave off the bleeding. He started to walk away from the rubble pile; but stopped when he heard a pair of heavy footsteps coming towards him. His steel eyes went wide as a black toggle coat appeared from the darkness. Mercury suddenly remembered a sentence he had read in a book when he was younger. " _I suddenly realized that my luck had run out; and as Death stared at me I also realized that, I was terrified."_

Jozy looked at him; his eyes glowing bright yellow. Rain water was dripping off the metal jaw of his mask; Obelisk made small sparks on the ground as Jozy drew small lines in the ground.

"Mercury…Black." he said; voice cold.


	41. Chapter 41

**A/N: I'm back with another chapter of RWBY Darkfall; and I am so excited because there are only three more chapters to go before this story is completed! WOO! Thank you guys so much for all the support throughout this story I love you all. So here's the final dimensions for Liz:**

 **Height: 5'8"**

 **Age: 33**

 **Bra size: D33(pregnancy) C41(roughly)**

 **weight: 168 lbs**

 **Please don't forget to follow, favorite, and review;)**

"Absolute Predator"

The rain fell between Jozy and Mercury. White rain drops signified the intensity at which the storm was hammering Atlas. The monsoon had blown in from the ocean and now it held something more dangerous than rain; the razor blades of the Sequoia Tree. An explosion went off in the distance and Jozy slowly turned his head towards the sound. His eyes were void of expression; and only held the slightest tinge of curiosity.

"I think that was the last of the Atlysian forces in the southern sector." Jozy mused.

Mercury took his opportunity and ran at Jozy. He spun on his left foot and kicked Jozy in the head with the force that would take any other person's head off. However, when his boot made contact Jozy disappeared into thin air.

"Taking advantages of your foes weakness and blindspot; very effective to those who don't see you as an enemy. However, I am not an idiot and I also don't know you personally." Jozy said; his actual form behind him.

Mercury spun around and took a defensive stance.

"So you can use Blake Belladonna's semblance. Did you kill her?" Mercury asked.

Jozy put his hands on top of Obelisk, "Unfortunately, it's only a copy." Jozy squinted his eyes. "How did you know that in order to use a person's full semblance?"

"Heh, Cinder told us a lot about you even to the point of how you almost killed Orchid." Mercury said; getting ready to charge Jozy.

Jozy chuckled, "Speaking of, Cinder, do you want to see her?"

Mercury was confused he had no idea what Jozy meant. He soon found out when Jozy's eyes started to glow orange and a fireball formed in his hand. He shot the fireball at Mercury; who had to panic dive to the ground as it exploded next to him. It coated the ground with a sticky napalm-like substance. The fire reflected off of Jozy's metal mask as he walked over to Mercury who was trying to get off the ground.

"Y-You didn't." He said; looking up at him.

"I did; and you want to know who's semblance is inside of Cinder's body right now?" he asked.

Mercury just stared at him.

"Poor Emerald's." Jozy said; grabbing Mercury by his neck.

He lifted him up and into the air, "Now you see why even the Seasonal Maidens bow down to me; and why you'll be no different."

Suddenly the black blade of a katana appeared next to Jozy head; in a perfect position to end his life if it wanted to.

"Let him go; if you don't I will end you right here." a female voice said; pushing the sword against his neck.

"Zirconia." Jozy muttered; dropping Mercury to the ground.

"I was wondering when you'd rear your shitty head in this battle; you Arbiter cunt." Jozy spun around and kicked her away from him.

She slid back on her feet as her body absorbed the hit. She was young, probably no more than twenty three with long black hair; and purple eyes that were locked into a permanent scowl. She wore a black business suit with black gloves that gave her a professional aura; although it was false. Jozy rolled away from the two of them as Mercury got up off the ground. He put Obelisk in front of himself and looked to each of his opponents before the both launched a simultaneous attack.

Meanwhile Ruby was still on the roof dealing with Team FNKI. She spun Lunar Rose in her hands which blocked Flynt's ice tracers that he shot out of his horn. She had already killed their two other team members leaving only Flint and Neon left. Both of them were exhausted and Neon even had several cuts on her arms and legs that were bleeding rather steadily.

"How much stamina does she have?" Neon asked; her breath ragged.

Breathing heavily Flynt said, "I don't know; but we have to stop her."

Neon nodded and sped herself forward nunchucks in hand; a rainbow following her every move. While she did this Flynt took aim at Ruby using Neon's rainbow for cover. Ruby smirked underneath her mask and rolled out of the way of Neon and switched Lunar Rose to just its sniper rifle mode. She took aim at Flynt and shot three rounds at him. He grit his teeth as he dodged the first two rounds, the third however was not shot at him; but at the ground in front of him. The round exploded showering him shrapnel and blinding him.

"Flynt!" Neon yelled; as she saw her teammate frantically wiping his eyes.

Ruby switched back to her scythe and was going to kill him while he was impaired; but never got the chance as Neon came behind her and threw nunchucks around her throat. Ruby gagged as the nunchucks were pulled back; she dropped Lunar Rose to the roof. She grabbed the cord that held the blue rods together and tried to pull it away from her throat. Yet, through all this Neon's grip only got tighter. Saliva started to trail out of the corners of Ruby's mouth as her vision started to fade. She knew she had to do something or she would fall unconscious, or worse. Then Ruby faintly felt something hitting her left leg. She looked down and saw Neon's tail touching her. Ruby had studied basic animal anatomy and knew that cat's tails were very important; however she didn't know if they were that important to Faunus, but it was her only chance. She grabbed the tail and pulled hard on it, ripping the appendage off of Neon's body.

Her eyes went wide as she screamed in pain; her balance suddenly gone. She fell to the ground releasing Ruby from the choke hold. As she coughed Ruby threw away the bloody tail; and picked up Lunar Rose only to have it shot out her hands by an ice spike. She turned toward Flynt, who was no longer blind, with hate in her eyes.

"Fuck off!" Ruby yelled; drawing her hands up, and throwing them to her sides.

Two Deathstalker tails emerged from her back and flew towards Flynt, much like Centipede's tentacles. The first one cut his legs off and the other one plunged itself deep into Flynt's stomach. Ruby lifted him up in the air while the one who cut his legs off grabbed Lunar Rose and handed it to her.

"All that skill and it can't save you from me. I beleive you said something about Weiss' lack of skill some years back, so what will you say to your 'skill' as I gently turn your inside into scrambled eggs?" Ruby asked.

She twisted the stinger inside of Flynt causing blood to shoot out of his mouth as he screamed.

Ruby raised her human hand, "Come here!"

A bright orange glow came out of Flynt as Ruby forcefully ripped his semblance from him. His eyes turned completely white as the last of his semblance was absorbed into Ruby.

"Get lost." Ruby said; throwing Flynt's body off the roof and into a nearby apartment window; the civilians cowering in the room screamed when they saw the body.

The Deathstalker tails retracted back into Ruby 's body as she walked over to Neon, who was crying on the ground. She knelt down and cupped Neon's left cheek.

"Goodbye, Neon." Ruby said; her hand starting to glow.

Neon closed her eyes as her semblance disappeared; however, she was still alive. Ruby stood up slowly and pulled the bolt back. She shot Neon in the head making sure that she wouldn't live a cruel fate. She returned Lunar Rose to her back and when she looked over the edge of the roof top she noticed a wide eyed little girl staring at her from the apartment complex that she had thrown Flynt into. She was scared yet not shaking. Ruby made note of her bravery as well as her icy blue eyes that reminded her of who she was missing back home. She went over to Neon 's body and undid the cat collar around Neon's neck. She then jumped of the roof and used Lunar Rose as a hook. This put her roughly at eye level with the girl, who appeared to be around five. The girl opened the window for Ruby, somewhat hesitantly.

"You're a brave girl. Why aren't you scared?" Ruby asked.

The girl clutched the hem of her skirt, "Daddy says, 'people are only scary as you let them be.'"

"You're daddy's a smart man. So what do you think when you see me?" She asked; amused at the girl.

The girl swayed back and forth, "I think you're sad; because people take stuff from you and you're a lot more kind than the TV says."

Ruby chuckled, "You're a sharp one." Ruby handed her the collar. "Here as a way to remember me."

The girl timidly accepted it before seeing Ruby detach Lunar Rose and fall from view. She looked down into the darkness in shock before she saw Ruby fly up from the darkness using her newly healed wings. The girl clutched her hands around the collar as the cold wind blew her auburn hair around. She suddenly felt cold sharp steel pressed against her neck.

"I see you're making friends, Eberly. Shame they aren't on our side." a female voice said.

"Miss Winter, she attacked me." Eberly lied.

Winter smacked her in face sending her to the floor; with a large red mark on her face.

"You know better than to lie to me; and your father found out the hard way." Winter said; pointing to the blood smeared on her cutlass.

Eberly stared at the red substance with wide eyes that were filled with dread.

Winter smirked at her, "I think Ironwood would love to meet you."

Jozy switched Obelisk over to a shield as Mercury's boot and Zirconia's katana hit together for the fourth time. He was pushed back as the force dumped into his body. He breathed heavily, his arms felt as if they were about to break they were so sore. Yet even through this he banished the pain away and watched his enemy closely. Another explosion went off in the distance; this time taking a skyscraper with it.

Jozy chuckled, "Everything you worked for is falling down around you and yet you still fight for what you cannot save."

"What makes you think we're trying to save it?" Mercury asked; shooting Zirconia a subtle look.

She lightly nodded and slowly started shuffling her feet around Jozy, who pretended to not notice.

"Hmm, metal legs, silver armor and hair, cold steel eyes." Jozy laughed. "Oh, Tin Man if only you had a heart."

Mercury grit his teeth as Jozy mocked him. Jozy smirked underneath his mask before turning back to Zirconia who was much closer than she originally was. Jozy still pretended to not notice.

"And you Zirconia Falswed, how's daddy?" She squinted at him in disgust. "Oh wait I forgot I killed him."

Zirconia spit on the the ground, "You aren't worthy to speak his name."

""Maybe I'm not; but I'm also curious as to why exactly you are here. I mean this battle is lost and since your a valuable asset to Ironwood I figured he would have pulled you out." Jozy mused.

Her scowl deepened; but gave no answer. Jozy cocked and eyebrow before looking over to Mercury; who shot her a look. Jozy quickly two and two together.

"Oh, this is precious. You like sucking his cock don't you, Zirconia?" Jozy asked; with a sly look.

Her face reddened, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I only met him today."

"Then I guess you won't care if I did this." Jozy said; lifting his right hand towards Mercury.

Mercury started to feel the metal in his left leg start to warp. He yelled in pain as the the leg exploded and sent shrapnel into his body.

"Remember, this semblance Mercury?" Jozy asked.

"Ni-kos…" He muttered.

Jozy clapped his hands, "Very good, you get an 'A' for the day."

It was at this point that Zirconia took her chance and ran at Jozy. She jumped up and slashed down at him; only to be blocked by Obelisk that appeared to have a mind of its own.

"That was easy." Jozy said; flipping behind Zirconia.

She quickly turned and blocked the various strikes he sent her way; sparks flying from their swords showered them in neon light. Jozy broke their deadlock and spun in the air leaving rose petals behind him. Zirconia shot towards him and kicked him in the face with her heel; however, her heel broke on the metal mask doing almost no damage. Jozy took this opportunity to grab her leg and threw her into the rubble pile Mercury had landed in earlier. She got up somewhat groggily; but when a loud boom rang out she was in front of Jozy again, her katana poised to run him through. Jozy didn't flinch, and like a machine he hit her katana with enough force to knock it out of her hand. Zirconia smiled as she activated her semblance and went to touch Jozy's mask. " _So that's you semblance."_ Jozy thought as he grabbed her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers.

"Tell me can your electricity overpower lightning?" Jozy asked.

Her eyes widened in panic as Jozy shot a single bolt into her arm; the massive amount of energy making her arm explode like a pinata. She screamed in pain as she clutched the now bleeding hole where her arm used to be.

Mercury watched as Zirconia fell to her knees; and turned away from them, spinning his sword in his fingers. Zirconia watched as the bloody rainwater soaked into her black dress pants.

"Damn, that was easy." Jozy said; quickly charging his swing.

He looked at Mercury before letting it go, cutting Zirconia's head in half roughly at her eyeline. Blood spattered Mercury's face as Zirconia's top fell backwards and the rest of her body fell forwards. They were followed by two separate thuds.

Mercury growled in anger as he pushed himself up; his damaged leg not entirely useful, but still functional.

"You can still stand? That's impossible, or maybe I left you standing for a reason." Jozy said; taking a defensive stance.

Mercury was feeling the the weight of his many injuries; and he knew that his leg was beyond repair. However, that was not going to stop him from fighting his way out of this. He formed a plan of attack and started doing a cartwheel which launched himself in the air. Jozy lowered his defensive stance as he watched Mercury fly up and into the air. He smirked under mask as Mercury came down, shotgun boot ready to strike. She shot the round, but it went right through Jozy's after image. He landed roughly in the place where Jozy once stood; and started looking around frantically. Suddenly he heard a sharp metal sound behind him; and turned around to see Jozy mere inches away from his face.

"Boo." he said; before he cut his right arm off at the shoulder.

Mercury howled in pain as the appendage fell to the ground and turned into the same black ooze that Obelisk was made out of. Jozy touched the tip of Obelisk into the liquid and the sword absorbed it. The teeth of Jozy's mask retracted back and revealed the smile that was hidden underneath. In one motion he cut off Mercury's other arm at the elbow; whilst dropping down and doing a handstand on his left hand. He spun and cut off Mercury's legs right at where the metal met flesh. Mercury didn't even get to scream before the pain knocked him unconscious.

Jozy stepped over to Mercury and used fire Dust to cauterize his wounds. He allowed Obelisk to crawl back up his sleeve; as he grabbed Mercury by his throat and carried him off

"It's going to be very interesting dissecting you Mercury." Jozy muttered; carrying him off and into the darkness.

Ten minutes later Jozy met up with Ruby, and Saffeara who were talking on top of a nearby building; that was inside Sequoia Tree territory. Stood behind Saffeara was Centipede who was contently listening to the two women. Both of them broke off their conversation when the saw Jozy carrying a still unconscious Mercury.

"You're taking him alive?" Ruby asked; cocking an eyebrow.

Jozy threw the limbless Mercury to the ground, "Alive is a relative term."

"I take it we'll be taking him to the ship. Oh, and Tyler wants you to know he made it." Saffeara said; pulling out her scroll.

"Well, that's good I lost contact with him after I had to literally cut my way through the southern front." Jozy said.

Ruby nodded as the wind blew her hair towards the north. She brushed it out of her eyes in time to see a shadowy figure moving on the rooftop; and the next thing she saw was a bright orange fireball flying towards them.

"Down!" she yelled; tackling Saffeara who had her back turned to them.

Jozy tried pull out Obelisk; but by the time it had materialized it was already too late. The fireball hit Centipede and the resulting shockwave sent everyone tumbling off the roof and falling towards the ground below.

Ruby held onto Saffeara as they fell; and when they hit the ground Ruby took the full brunt of the impact. She hit her back on the ground which caused her to let go of Saffeara. She then bounced away from her and landed on her face; her mask protecting her from anything terrible. Saffeara got up off the ground, relatively unhurt and ran over to Ruby.

"Oh my God, Ruby! Are you alright?" she asked; touching her back gently.

When Ruby gave no Saffeara started got get frantic and pushed her even harder.

"Come on, Ruby don't do this to me." She said; panic evident in her voice although she was trying to suppress it.

Luckily Ruby awoke with a cough and a laugh. She rolled over onto her back; her eyes filled with merriment.

"That was awesome! Although, it's going to hurt like a bitch later." Ruby laughed.

Saffeara breathed a sigh of relief, "I don't get your humor sometimes, Ruby Rose."

Ruby laughed as she raised her robotic hand. Saffeara smiled as she stretched out her own hand and clutched Ruby's firmly, before pulling her up.

"Have you seen, Jozy?" Ruby asked; cracking her neck.

Saffeara shook her head, "No, I didn't even-"

"I'm here." Jozy cut her off; appearing from a cloud of black smoke.

Saffeara and Ruby both went over to him.

"Have you seen Centipede?" Saffeara asked.

Jozy nodded, "Yeah, this way."

The three of them walked down the alleyway at a brisk pace and when they rounded the corner the sight stunned them.

In front of them was Peter Port squaring off against Centipede; who had all four of his tentacles protruding out of him.

Saffeara smiled, "This is almost too perfect. We should see how this turns out, because…"

"...we could potentially eliminate two birds with one stone." Ruby said; finishing her sentence.

"I agree, all he has to do hit him in the head right?" Jozy asked.

Saffeara turned to Jozy ,her eyes glowing bright red, and nodded.

Port stood in front of Oobleck his Blunderaxe set in a defensive position.

"Oobleck, I don't know what they've done to you; but I'm on your side. We can fix whatever they've done to you." Port pleaded.

Saffeara rolled her eyes as Centipede let out a sharp hiss. He used two of his tentacles to jump in the air; and there he tried to impale Port from above. The tentacles impacted the cement with an almost metallic sound as Port rolled out of the way. Centipede heard Port roll away and ripped the closest tentacle out of the cement and hit his crouching form into a bunch of trash cans. Port groggily got up off the ground to see Centipede gently set himself down on his feet, mere yards away from Port.

"Bartholomew look at yourself. This isn't you; you were a man of knowledge who prefered to learn over fighting." Port continued to plea.

Centipede launched his red, toothed, tentacle at Port who dodged it quickly. Some of the sharp teeth cut his hair and mustache as it embedded itself in the brick wall behind him. Port took this opportunity to cut the tentacle in half causing Centipede to groan loudly.

"Fine, there's apparently only one way to get through to you." Port said; pointing the Blunderbuss at Centipede.

While Centipede was still reeling in pain he shot him in the head; breaking his mask and severing the thread that held his eyes and mouth shut. He slipped to the ground, his tentacles turning to dust. Port moved over to his friend cautiously before noticing his head start to move. When his face came to into view it revealed that his eyes were glowing red just like Saffeara's.

"Oobleck, we need to get-" he was cut off by Oobleck.

"Will you shut the hell up? Why do you think I want to come back? When I was in that form I found the answers to the world and found that you all are pigs waiting to be slaughtered." Oobleck said; too weak to stand.

Port was dumbfounded, he didn't know what to say.

Saffeara looked at Jozy, "The thread's been broken he's mortal now."

"Oh, good we can get this show on the road now." he responded; materializing Obelisk.

" _Madoka kijatka_ (Precipice Cage)" Jozy said; dropping Obelisk to the ground.

The sword shattered on impact and burrowed its way underground; making the ground quake as it did. Port started turned to finally see the audience that had been watching him the whole time. Saffeara smiled and waved at him before pointing to the ground. Port grit his teeth as he looked down in time to see the black liquid of Obelisk break through the cement. It formed long black spikes that impaled his legs at the knees; shattering bone and sending blood flying to the wall behind him. He screamed as he looked over to Oobleck and saw that the same spikes protruding out of his back. He turned back to Jozy and the rest as he heard two sets of footsteps approaching him. Jozy went in front of him and looked him over.

"Ouch." he said; summoning an ice ball in his hand and letting in levitate there.

Port watched as Ruby leaned up against a nearby wall, while Saffeara went behind Oobleck and leaned on his back pushing the spikes deeper. Saffeara smiled at Port as she rested her head in her hands.

"Now I'm going to ask you a very simple question, Peter." Jozy said; making the levitating ice ball in his hand move. "Why are you here?"

Port kept his lips tight unwilling to give even the slightest hint of why he was there.

Jozy shook his head and sighed, "Why do they always have to do this the hard way?"

He turned to Port and flicked his hand upwards. Port screamed as the spikes grew up his legs and ripped them apart from the inside; splitting bone and muscle, sending more blood to the ground. Jozy then twisted his hand and the spikes then curled around his femurs like a python before crushing them making him scream more.

"Come on Port. Start talking or I'll crush your hips into a pretzel next." Jozy said; flicking his hand up again.

Port screamed; but still didn't give up why he was there. Jozy was about to twist his hand again; but was stopped by a metal hand that gently pushed it down. All pain left Port as Jozy turned toward Ruby who stepped in front of him, removing her mask. She looked at the dark pool of blood that cast a red reflection in her silver eyes.

"You came here to find Oobleck under Ozpin's orders didn't you?" she asked; making note of the sweat that was running off of him.

Port grunted, "Yes, under Ozpin's orders."

"I see, so are you saying that even though you couldn't defy Atlas you can defy the Sequoia Tree?" Ruby asked; her face getting closer to his.

"What do you mean Ms. Rose?"

"You know what I mean. When I was falsely accused and thrown into prison where were you? When I was being raped by fifteen different men, the first taking my virginity and the last almost taking my fertility, where were you? When I was strapped to the chair, eyes gouged out, rapier wasps in my ears; and my fingers and toes ripped off where were you? When I was loaded into a bus and transported to the Deathwind where you?" Ruby pulled his head down and brought her mouth close to his ear. "Oh, wait I forgot you couldn't defy Atlas." Ruby said; throwing his back and walking back towards Saffeara at a brisk pace.

"Saffeara kill Oobleck." Ruby ordered.

Saffeara smiled and nodded towards her; withdrawing Evercaster from its sheath on her back.

"Wait, Ms. Rose!" Port yelled.

With a loud bang a portion of the brick wall near his head exploded sending pieces of rock flying everywhere. When the dust cleared he saw Ruby one arming Lunar Rose, her eyes black and yellow.

She blinked and turned them back to normal, "Don't you ever call me _that_ again."

Port hung his head low and did not say another word as Saffeara stabbed Oobleck through the back and twisted it. Oobleck grunted as the spikes withdrew back into the ground, allowing his lifeless body to fall to the ground.

Ruby went over to Jozy, " With your permission I'd like his life to be in my hands."

Jozy nodded and handed the ice ball over to Ruby. She grabbed it and walked over to Port as Saffeara and Jozy left. She opened his mouth and placed the ice ball inside of it.

"I read in a comic book once that, 'All suffering in this world was due to an individual's lack of ability.' So that means that you and Ozpin are both failures as people and huntsmen. I also don't know whether or not trash like you has a soul or not; but I'm willing to bet that if you do, God, has no intention of helping you." Ruby said; leaning in and kissing the ice ball.

She started to walk away as the ball of ice exploded freezing Port solid, killing him instantly. the spikes that were holding him up retracted and flew out of the ground. They went back to Jozy and reformed Obelisk, on a nearby rooftop. Port frozen self fell to the ground and shattered like glass; erasing any memory of the once great huntsman.

After this Ruby, Jozy and Saffeara pulled out of the city and back to the Sequoia Tree flagship. Tyler and Kale were still on the ground, but had seen significantly less fighting than the other three. Ruby had decided that she wanted to be alone for awhile and on the same bench she and her sister had sat in a few days earlier. She was hunched over staring at the ground, a half empty beer bottle in her metal hand. The sorrow and pain welling up inside her was almost too much to bare; as her eyes threatened to leak. She heard a pair of heels move toward her slowly and felt the person sit beside her. Ruby looked up to see Liz staring at her with topaz eyes; her smile soft and sympathetic.

"Hey there rosebud, I heard what happened." she said; putting her hand on Ruby's shoulder.

Tears welled up in Ruby's eyes at her words; and she just couldn't stand it anymore. She dropped the bottle to the ground, shattering it, and grabbed ahold of Liz trying her best not to hurt the pregnant woman. There in Liz's soft yet firm shoulder the dam broke and Ruby just started to sob. Liz held her head close and started to rock her back and forth just like she used to do to Orchid. Ruby cried to the point that he tears started to roll off Liz's shirt and fell onto the floor.

"Why? Why is it that everybody I love ends up dead? People say revenge is supposed to be sweet yet all I feel is pain." Ruby said.

Liz swallowed the lump in her throat, "Is that all your here for, Ruby? Revenge." Liz lifted Ruby's face and looked at her swollen, red eyes. "Revenge is a drug, Ruby. At its core it is evil; and should only be wielded by perfect beings who do no wrong."

"Why do I feel so compelled to be cruel to these people then?" Ruby asked; sniffling her nose.

"Because you're addicted to revenge; and the only cure is justice but the justice you want is cruelty. That is not justice it's just wrong. Believe me when I say that revenge will even kill Weiss as you lust after this since of 'justice'." Liz said; her eyes hard as steel.

Ruby felt her heart drop as a sense of dread swept over her, "No, no, no please not her. I can't live without her."

"If you want to save her then you need to understand the difference between the cruelty of revenge and divine justice. Justice is swift yet merciful; and revenge if brutal and bloody."

"But where do I start?" Ruby asked; somewhat distraught.

Liz leaned back a little, "Take Jozy for example he doesn't kill innocent people; and even tries not kill people if he can help it. That is mercy." Liz lifted Ruby's human hand and put it on her stomach.

Ruby felt a small kick when her hand touched Liz.

"Life is vast and precious, Ruby. At all cost it must be protected; because every person has a purpose in this life. If you run around murdering senselessly and with no morals you're only proving Ironwood right and giving Salem validity." Liz said; before wrapping her arms around Ruby once again.

"I love you, Ruby. Almost as much as my own daughter; but every now and again a mother has to teach her children the difference between right and wrong." she said.

Ruby wrapped her arms around Liz again; and this is how the stayed for just a little while longer.

Meanwhile Jozy and Saffeara were in the medical sector looking at four body's threw protective ballistic glass. The one to the far left was Mercury who was currently struggling against his restraints. He as also the only alive one in the room although "alive" was a relative term; his arms and legs were still missing. Next to him lay the body of Bartholomew Oobleck; and beside him was the body of Adam Taurus, carefully preserved in an oxygenless tube. Finally the last body was the frozen torso of Peter Port; captured not for its durability; but for that still lay inside of it: his semblance. Saffeara unsheathed her claws and scrapped down the side of the glass; leaving claw marks on the glass.

"With the lose of Centipede our forces have taken a significant blow." Saffeara mentioned.

"It doesn't matter we have enough firepower to break through to Ironwood." Jozy said.

Saffeara chuckled, "Once you think about it the solution is very simple." Saffeara turned toward Jozy her eyes glowing bright red.

"All we have to do is _rebuild_ Bartholomew Oobleck…"


	42. Chapter 42

**A/N: RWBY: Darkfall is back and let me preface this with saying that this chapter is the most graphic thing I've ever written; but I'm not one of those people to self censor myself so screw it. I just wanted to say thank you once again for all the support you've given me and I hope that you continue to enjoy this story even though there only two chapters left. That's enough of me though please don't forget to follow, favorite and review; I'll see you all next weekend.**

"Skull Crack"

Light streamed through the half closed blinds of Ruby and Saffeara's shared dorm. The room was dark and Ruby sat on her bed staring at the white streams of glowing photons that entered the room. Water lazily dripped from her bangs and landed on her bare collarbone. She had just gotten out of the shower and had only dressed herself in a pair of black panties and a brown bra that she would take off later when she put her vest on. Her mind was filled with thoughts from the previous night; and although most of the pain had gone away she still had yet to forgive herself. She brought her knees closer to her chest as she turned her head more towards the window. This position didn't last long though as Ruby was removed from her thoughts.

"So you going to make a move on me; or are you going to sit in your underwear all day?" Saffeara asked; a wide smile could be seen on her face.

Ruby chuckled, "Nah, I can heal well enough. I'm going to fight Atlas in my underwear today."

"Aww, and I thought I was going to make you happy before we had to leave today." Saffeara said; wiggling her eyebrows.

"You know I'm engaged right?" Ruby asked; a soft smile adorning her lips.

Saffeara laughed whilst sitting beside Ruby, "I am well aware; I just knew I could get a laugh out of you if I asked that."

"Well, you succeeded." Ruby said; leaning her head back against the wall.

Both fell silent for a moment before Saffeara spoke up again.

"I take it you're still thinking about last night." Saffeara said; deciding to attack the topic like a bandaid.

Ruby's eyelids went down a bit, "Yeah, I just feel like I could have done… _that_ , a whole lot better."

Saffeara reached behind Ruby and grabbed her shoulder, "Maybe you're right, maybe you're not; but in the end Oobleck was fated to die. In fact his real persona probably died in Vale along with his sanity."

"I understand that; but did Port deserve what I did to him? Am I a monster or am I justified in my killing?" Ruby asked.

Saffeara didn't say a word. Instead she got up off of Ruby's bed and withdrew Evercaster with a metallic wail. She flipped it over and pointed its hilt at Ruby; who gave her a questioning look.

"If you're asking whether or not you're a murderer then I'll let you answer your own question. Stab me, Ruby." Saffeara ordered; her eyes like red steel.

Ruby's eyes went wide as her brain processed what Saffeara just asked her. She started to sweat as she looked at the purple katana before her. Her mind didn't know what to do. Suddenly, Evercster was dropped to the ground with a metal clack. She looked up to Saffeara who wore a serious look on her face.

"You're no murderer, Ruby. If you were I'd have a sword through me right now. Whether or not you're merciful is for you to decide; but I can tell you this from experience. Mercy feels a whole heck of a lot better than revenge." Saffeara said; picking up Evercaster off the floor and returning it to its sheath on her back.

Ruby thought about it for a moment as the pieces finally clicked in.

"Is it better than sex?" Ruby asked; her mouth contorting into a mischievous smile.

Saffeara closed her eyes preparing to give serious answer until the question reached her mind; which was quickly derailed. She smiled and started to laugh at Ruby's joke.

"Almost; but I think it's pretty damn close." Saffeara sat down next to Ruby once again. "Unless you have a shitty partner then it's better than sex."

Ruby snorted, "Well, at least I don't have to worry about that."

"Oh? Do tell." Saffeara said; her eyes lighting up.

Ruby smiled brighter, "I'm not giving you a story porno of my life."

"That's too bad. Although, I can imagine many _interesting_ things the 'Dust Queen' does to you in bed." Saffeara said; jumping off of Ruby's bed.

Ruby immediately blushed, "I'm just going to take the safe route and say that anything you think of is probably untrue."

"You like that ice Dust don't you." Saffeara conjectured with a knowing look on her face.

"Whaa! I have- I don't-... I'm getting dressed." Ruby said; getting up and feeling the need to cover herself.

Saffeara put her hand on her hip and watched as Ruby started to dress herself, finally. It took Ruby around seven minutes to get all her stuff together; and after that both women exited their shared room and started to walk towards the hangar.

"So what's your mission today anyway? Mine's just helping Kale and Tyler clear the Northern Sector." Ruby asked.

"After last night a recon team noticed an abnormality underneath Atlas' main street and when they followed it, it lead them to a ventilation system for a bunker." Saffeara said, pressing the button for the elevator.

Ruby turned, "Could just be some rich civilians."

"Yeah, we've considered that; but an interesting fact appeared last night and that was Winter Schnee was present at your battle." Ruby's expression changed to one of concern. "She was there for about a minute; but then quickly disappeared. You didn't see her when you were fighting team FNKI did you?" Saffeara asked.

"No, if she was there then I was already gone." Ruby answered, honestly.

Saffeara nodded, "We'll I've got a hunch that bunker is where she went after the battle."

"I see." Ruby put her mask on. "Well, I hope to see you after it's done."

"Oh, you will Ruby." she assured her.

Both women walked down the hallway until they eventually came to a crossroads.

"Hey, before you go I just wanted to ask what would you have done if I had stabbed you?" Ruby asked.

Saffeara turned back toward her with a smile that was too big for the question.

"Oh, I would have pulled Evercaster out of me and cut your head off." she replied.

Ruby's eyes went wide as she pursed her lips, "Noted."

Saffeara smirked before skipping away, down the hall. Ruby stood there for a second; before turning to her left and down another hallway.

Saffeara boarded her Bullhead carefully; her bare feet thudding on the metal ramp. The pilot nodded to her before closing the door to the cockpit. Saffeara sat down and crossed her legs. She lightly folded her hands on her lap like she was waiting to be greeted by an official. She watched in silence as the door closed and any white light was soon replaced by a low glowing red one. Saffeara unzipped the white zipper on the front of her robe and withdrew her scroll from her bra.

She unlocked it and started to type up notes from stories she had playing through he had and dreams. Although, she refrained from writing some of them down just in case somebody figured out her password. The Bullhead lifted off the ground and Saffeara swore under her breath as she misspelled the last word in her sentence. She quickly back spaced and fixed her mistake before she continued.

The flight itself was rather quick for them to be dropping her into enemy territory. Hell the landing even went smoothly which sent an eerie chill down her spine. She pulled up her hood up over her head as she proceeded down the broken street that was covered in ash, dust, concrete, and twisted metal from the buildings around her. She stepped on the pavement and pushed the debris out of the way as she climbed up a steel I beam and into a hole that had been left in the wall of a building. She jumped in and her feet landed on what had once been plush carpet. She looked to her left and found a baby crib that had been thrown onto its side; the toys were mixed in with the plaster that had fallen from the walls; exposing the walls insides. Saffeara shook the dark thoughts out of her head; and silently hoped the family had gotten out in time. Saffeara went over to the red door and opened it. Well, "opened it" was a relative term. The red door fell off its hinges and landed on the glass covered floor. The glass broke instantly and made a loud sound echo throughout the empty hallway.

Saffeara took a deep breath and withdrew Evercaster from its sheath and left it pointed downwards as she walked down this ruined, water damaged hallway. It had been years since she had room cleared with a sword and admittedly she was out of practice and didn't remember all of it. " _Jozy would be pissed if I admitted I didn't remember one of his teachings."_ Saffeara thought. She continued down the hallway until she came into what was once a living room that doubled as a kitchen. The living room was still smoldering even though it had burnt itself out fourteen hours prior to her arrival. The kitchen had been shot to hell and its sink was currently shooting water into the air. Right next to the door was another door that appeared to be the apartment's front door and Saffeara decided that would be her exit. She pushed the door open, this time actually opening it, and stepped out and onto even more ruined carpet. That was when large breeze blew passed Saffeara; sending her hair, the bottom dress-like part of her robe, and the ears of her hood all flying towards one direction. She brushed her bangs out of her eyes in time to see why such a large breeze was inside of a building. The entire one side of the building had collapsed and was now a pitiful pile of rubble coating the street below; and forming a new island in the middle of the Atlysian harbor.

The building quaked as yet another strong wind blew through the broken building and Saffeara knew its was time to leave. She activated her original semblance and transformed into a pillar of sand and floated down to the street below. She changed back to her normal human form and looked back up to the skyscraper she had just come out of. The salty air blew threw the abandoned portion of the city with an eerie wail that was quickly silenced when Saffeara heard several loud explosions from across the bay. She looked up and saw two Sequoia Tree attack jets circling over head; they're jet engines roaring in the overcast sky. They circled around overhead for two more cycles before they disappeared into the clouds. Saffeara followed them with her eyes until they lead her to a large industrial crane that was pointed towards the bay. She had found her target and red ribbon started to wrap around body underneath her robe. She started to run and when she jumped she took took off into the air; her body enveloped by a red aura. She hit the arm of the crane with a metallic thud as her foot bent one of the supports in order to stop her. She landed on one knee before standing up and walking over to the very edge of the crane's arm and looked down into the water below. She unzipped the front zipper to her robe and let it drop down her ankles. She gently stepped out of it and picked it up. She was now left with just her underwear as she wrapped the robe around one of the supports to retrieve later. She walked over to the edge once again and looked into the ocean. She immediately regretted wearing white underwear; as everyone knew what happens to white clothes when they get wet. She made sure to grab Evercaster and put in on her back.

Saffeara took a deep breath before falling off and forming a diving pose. She broke the water's surface sending bubbles everywhere. She opened her eyes and gazed upon the soundless blue world; before swimming deeper. Somewhere down in this abyss was a drainage pipe that lead into a sewer that was connected to Winter's bunker. She continued to swim deeper before seeing the rusted the pipe. Saffeara was a practiced swimmer even when she was a little girl she would try and swim as much as she could. It was yet another way to escape her hellish reality besides books.

She swam down the pipe until she saw light coming from the surface; which she quickly swam for. Her head broke the surface and she gasped for air as her nose was freed. She calmed down her breathing before grabbing a nearby railing and pulling herself up and onto the concrete floor. She crouched down and quickly looked herself over. She had no cuts; but what she feared was going to happen to her clothes did in fact happen, which pissed her off.

"Hey did you hear that?" a voice asked; from a dark hallway to Saffeara's right.

Saffeara grit her teeth before running off and hiding in the room. Two Atlysian soldiers walked into the room both armed with assault rifles. The had tac. lights mounted to the side of them, via rail system, and were scanning the room with them. The one to the left of the first one bent down and touched the ground where Saffeara had been standing.

"This is still wet, someone's here." he said.

Both of them didn't hear Saffeara drop down from the ceiling behind them.

"Your observatory skills are cute." she said; giggling like a kid.

The soldier tried to turn around; but instead got Saffeara's foot to the head. The powerful strike pushed him to the wall; cracking the concrete. He fell over dead his helmet caved in as well as his skull. The other soldier looked to his now dead friend and when he looked back up Saffeara was gone. Two hands reached around him and grabbed his rifle; and moved it up and to the side of his head. He tried in vain to move the rifle; but couldn't get it out of Saffeara's iron grip. Saffeara shushed him before using the gun to break his neck with a satisfying snap. The soldier fell forward and landed on his face with a loud thud. Saffeara took their guns and threw them into the water before; dragging the bodies over and throwing them in as well. She ran her hand through her red and black hair and shook her head, trying to dry her hair. She turned to the same hallway the soldiers had just come through and withdrew Evercaster as she walked down the hallway. She walked for quite a ways in pitch darkness; yet she knew there was no one else in the hallway as her footsteps echoed in the hallway without any sound resistance. As she walked she heard a voice talking to her left and feared that someone had snuck up on her. She turned prepared to strike them down with Evercaster; but found there was nobody there at all. Instead the voice was coming from a vent that Saffeara may not have noticed if it hadn't "spoken" to her. She put her ear to it and recognized the voice coming from it. She quickly jabbed Evercaster beneath the grate and pried it off with a loud clang.

She returned Evercaster to its sheath and climbed into the vent that for a normal person would have been very claustrophobic. However, Saffeara was rather small and this allowed her to crouch walk inside of it. She walked for what felt like hours, but in reality was only ten minutes, before she found a grate in front of her that had light streaming through it. She moved over to it cautiously and peered down into the room below.

The room was massive. It had solid concrete floors that were stained black; and its walls were also concrete but here covered in white padding. The walls served as a backdrop for huge reinforced support pylons that one would typically see holding up overpasses. Although Saffeara's visibility was limited she had to guess that were at least twelve that were set in a circular pattern around the equally circular room. In the center of the room stood at least thirty Atlysian soldiers all focusing their attention on the white hair and blue eyes of Winter Schnee. She was going on and on about how this person next to her was a coward and deserved to be shot. Saffeara squinted her eyes, but could not make out who it exactly was that Winter was was talking about. However, she did notice that there was a man standing in the shadows of a black corridor whom she did not know.

He had mid length blonde hair with red eyes and wore a disinterested look. Saffeara didn't know why she felt uneasy about him; but knew that nothing got accomplished through fear. Winter finally stopped talking and drug the man back into the black corridor; the blonde haired huntsmen closed the door, leaving the soldiers to themselves. Saffeara's lips curled into a small smile as she saw her opportunity. She kicked the grate out and dropped down. Saffeara giggled a bit as she fell at least three stories down. The soldiers looked up and saw Saffeara pull Evercaster off her back and point it at them. The blade split apart and shot a ball of electricity at them. The soldiers tried to evade the ball; but some couldn't and were electrocuted and vaporized. Saffeara soundlessly landed in front of the reeling soldiers; smiling playfully. She charged them and started hacking and slashing; the blood stained her underwear and coated portions of her body and hair. It took her around five minutes to kill everyone of the soldiers; and not one round was ever fired. Saffeara returned Evercaster to its sheath on her back; and almost on cue the doors that Winter had disappeared behind opened. Saffeara squinted her eyes and squared up with the door. The hallway was pitch black and one couldn't see anything past the wall of black.

Suddenly a blue bolt of lightning shot out of the darkness and hit Saffeara in the chest. The bolt burned her skin and destroyed her bra. Her eyes were half lidded as her consciousness wavered; her skin immediately started to heal. She heard two sets of footsteps approaching her, one in heels the other in heavy boots.

"Your aim has gotten a lot better, Miss Schnee." the unknown huntsmen complimented.

"Thank you, Hanz." Winter said; kneeling down and slapping Saffeara.

Saffeara stayed conscious as her lungs felt as if they were on fire.

"Stay with me, Faunus bitch." Winter said; pulling out a syringe and jabbing it in Saffeara's arm.

Saffeara's breathing started to accelerate as her mind went to cloud nine. She started to sweat as the drug started to dampen her senses.

"What did you do to me?" Saffeara choked out.

"I just pumped you full of semblance repressors; and now I'm going to have all sorts of fun with you." Winter replied.

Saffeara moaned when she heard this and before she slipped unconscious, Hanz picked her up and carried her into the black hallway, Winter followed just a little bit behind them.

Meanwhile Ruby was finishing an intense firefight that involved an intense firefight with an entire Atlysian battalion. Her men rushed passed her and pursued the retreating Atlysians. Ruby took one step forward before she suddenly felt incredibly light headed. She tried to step forward; but her dizziness threw her down to her hands and knees. Lunar Rose dropped to the ground with a clank that echoed in Ruby's ears. She looked around and all around her she saw double of everything. She pulled her mask down and touched her nose; she felt a warm substance coat her fingers. When she pulled her fingers away she found that they were covered in blood.

"Ruby!" Tyler yelled; running over to her.

Kale came around the corner as well and started to run towards her when he laid eyes on her. Tyler dropped Abacus to the ground as he slid in front of her. Kale followed quickly sliding on his knees; pointing Reflection Breaker in the direction of the fighting. Ruby was in a trance and her eyes were greyed significantly.

"What's wrong with her?" Kale asked.

Tyler threw his gloves on the ground and put his visor up, "I can't fucking tell."

He grabbed a flashlight on his belt and shined it in Ruby's eyes which appeared to bring her back to reality. Breathing a sigh of relief Tyler put his hands on either side of Ruby's head so that she would focus on him.

"Ruby what's wrong?" he asked.

"I-I saw Saffeara's semblance for about a minute; before it was extinguished like a flame in water. Something terrible's happened." Ruby said; wiping her nose.

Kale and Tyler looked at each other. They had heard of semblances talking to each other; but usually that was in a very bad situation.

"What do we do? Saffeara's on the other side of the city?" Tyler asked.

Kale put his hand on his forehead, "It wouldn't be so bad if we weren't still busy here. Plus we have no way of getting there fast enough."

Ruby picked up Lunar Rose of the ground whilst standing up. Her arms and legs still felt heavy; but she pushed that feeling out of her mind.

"I'll go. My semblance is faster than any vehicle we can get and it's a whole hell of a lot faster than the three of us running there." Ruby said; putting Lunar Rose on her back.

Kale and Tyler looked at each other once again although they knew they didn't have a choice.

"Go I'll tell command where you've gone." Kale said.

Ruby nodded and disappeared in a cloud of rose petals. Kale and Tyler turned around and started to walk back to the fight.

"What if Ruby's wrong?" Tyler asked; putting his gloves back on.

"If she is; she'll pay for it. However, from what I've seen she's not wrong." Kale said; reloading Reflection Breaker.

"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. (1 Corinthians 13:11) I think now, Saffeara, will learn what that finally means." Tyler said.

Kale gave no response instead he just continued walking.

Saffeara was suspended in a large circular room. It was damp and the musty smell of mold encased the room. Her panties had been forcefully removed and Winter beat her before cutting her body with her cutlass. She had a black eye and a split lip that kept bleeding. Blood dripped from her toes from wounds that could not heal thanks to the semblance suppressors. Saffeara flinched when she heard the big iron door open and then shut.

"We've been here forever Saffeara and I've noticed something about you." Winter moved over to Saffeara and traced circles on her left thigh. "Your mind is surprisingly strong; yet it has one weakness."

Winter backed away, "I did some digging and found some very interesting information about your relationship with your father… I bet you tried to repress those memories."

Winter traced her nail inside of Safferara's right thigh; and slowly brought it up until she grazed Saffeara's vagina. Saffeara whimpered when she felt her.

"I've got a great idea." Winter whispered in her ear. "Let's reenact what your dad would do to you in the hallway before you went to bed."

With that Winter's finger penetrated her and dug into the weak, flesh walls. Saffeara screamed as the finger ripped her flesh and sent blood trickling out of her. Winter continued to tear at her insides until she felt Saffeara's muscles begin to contract and her breathing got raspier. She withdrew her finger that was covered in Saffeara's juices and her blood.

She drew a smile on Saffeara's face with her own blood and body fluids, "I don't feel like letting you cum either. Come on tell me how you taste."

Winter pushed her finger into Saffeara's mouth and only pulled it out when she Saffeara's uvula. She made Saffeara gag before pulling her finger out.

"There now don't you think you taste lovely?" Winter asked; in a sadistically, sultry voice.

Saffeara looked up at her before spitting the mixture in her face. Winter grit her teeth angrily as she wiped the liquid from her face. She then punched Saffeara in the face; breaking her nose with a snap. She then went behind the hanging woman; and grabbed her butt. She lifted it a little and put her mouth next to Saffeara's ear again.

"You're a bad girl, Saffeara. I guess I'm going to to have to punish you." Winter said; moving her hand towards Saffeara's anus.

Saffeara screamed as pain ripped through her lower body. Tears started to flow freely.

"It appears I struck a nerve. You wanna know what I'm going to do after I'm done? I'm going to get myself off to your bloody, violated form; and then I'm probably going to have sex with your dead body as a reminder that you will never be safe from me." Winter said; her left hand tracing down her back while her right one was still occupied.

"Where did you hear that?!" Saffeara asked; the words of her father echoing in her mind.

Winter chuckled, "From your father, of course."

Saffeara screamed again as Winter pushed deeper. This would continue for hours as Winter sexually tortured Saffeara to the point of insanity. The whole time she never felt any pleasure only pain.

Saffeara was now sitting in a chair with her hands shackled behind her back. Her legs were shackled to the chair and her breathing was labored.

"Father… please stop...I promise to be good… I'm sorry, please…" Saffeara sobbed; her mind was broken.

Winter walked over to her, "Okay, Saffeara we're going to see what's been inside that head of yours."

Hanz walked from the shadows and put his hand on Saffeara's head. Suddenly they were transported into a dark room that was entirely made out of mahogany. Saffeara was now in a room she had not seen since she was eleven and was sitting at the desk a pen in her hand. Her eyes went wide as the pitter patter of rain made her remember exactly where this memory came from. She jumped out of her seat and ran over to a nearby corner. Covering her ears she started to cry as a pair of footsteps moved towards the door.

"All you are is a scared little kid, Saffeara." Winter said as an out of body voice.

Saffeara looked up, her eyes wide with horror as the room collapsed around her and she was now strapped to a metal table; her wolf ears were now attached to her head once again. Another door opened and Winter stepped out holding a pair of pliers.

"I'm sure that you can guess by now that Hanz's semblance is to enter a person's mind and alter their sense of reality; he can also transport people into one's mind and create fabricated scenarios." She moved closer to Saffeara and squeezed the first ear with the pliers. "Let's dig a little deeper shall we?"

She ripped it off causing Saffeara to scream. She saw white before she was transported to her writing room inside her apartment. She breathed sigh of relief as she reclined back in her chair. She looked out the window and saw snow lightly falling from the clouds.

"Is this a happy memory for you Saffeara let's change that." Winter said; walking out of a corner.

Saffeara quickly reached under the desk and grabbed a large combat knife.

"You bitch!" Saffeara yelled; running and stabbing Winter.

Both of them fell to the ground with a thud, however, Winter disappeared and was replaced with Ruby. Saffeara's eyes went wide as she realized that she had stabbed Ruby instead of Winter. The room transformed to one of pure white and Ruby's blood stained the reflective floor.

"No! No, no, no, no. Ruby please don't go I'm so sorry. Please don't I can't be here alone again." Saffeara cried; lifting her up and holding her head to her shoulder.

Saffeara started to rock back and forth as she sobbed the tears landing on Ruby's face.

"Come you Faunus tramp, why don't you tell her the secret you've been hiding from her for so long." Winter echoed.

Saffeara choked, " I can't because too many things would be destroyed if I did."

"Then I'll admit it for you. My name's Saffeara Vain and I have a huge crush on Ruby Rose." Winter started to laugh maniacally. " Oh man, if Ruby knew some of the things you had fantasized about with her she'd be appalled."

Winter walked over to her and withdrew her cutlass, "Relax Saffeara the death will be quick."

She raised her arm to strike Saffeara down; but before she could her image disappeared into a puff of white feathers. Saffeara looked around in shock and wondered as to what happened.

In the real world Winter shot back; hitting her back on the iron door. A searing pain was tearing through her arm and when she cut her sleeve she found that it was melting like it had acid poured on it.

"Hanz, what the hell is going on? Hanz!" Winter yelled; grabbing her sword.

She looked over to him; and saw smoke coming out of his ears and mouth. His head suddenly exploded and covered Winter with viscera.

Back inside of Saffeara's mind she was no longer in a white room and Ruby's dead body had disappeared. She now stood in knee high green grass that covered a cliff. She was wearing a white summer dress; and noticed that Jozy was standing on the edge of the cliff looking at the sky. She immediately remembered this as one of the most important days of her life.

"So Saffeara the question must be asked, 'Will you be a slave to your semblance or will you subjugate your semblance and bend it to your will'?" Jozy asked.

Saffeara remembered that she never answered that question; but figured that now would be good time to answer it.

"I will subjugate it." she said.

The environment faded around her and reality came back into sight. She saw the dead body of Hanz in front of her; creating a large pool of blood on the ground. Winter, however was gone. Saffeara kicked her right foot up and broke the shackle she then repeated the same process and freed her other foot. She grit her teeth and pulled her arms apart; popping the links of the chain like popcorn. She stood up and rubbed her wrists. As she did this black ribbon appeared from the shadows and wrapped around her naked body; healing some of her worst wounds instantly. The black ribbon was emanating a pitch black smoke that appeared to devour light. Her hair was levitating off her head; the red underneath the stained black glowed as she walked over to Hanz's dead body. The ribbon finally stopped enveloping her body when it hit her neck; two strands came off her neck and floated there. She found Evercaster on Hanz's body and held it in her ribbon wrapped hand for a second before she withdrew it from its sheath. Saffeara put the sheath on her back once again and walked out of the room. She returned to the circular room where she killed the soldiers previously and found Winter looking at the door way. Her breathing was heavy as she tried to compensate for the pain in her arm.

Saffeara smirked, "Scared Winter? Afraid that your toy might bite back?"

"You bitch. I don't know how your semblance broke through _that_ many suppressors; but I will-" Winter was cut off by Saffeara appearing behind her.

Saffeara spun and kicked her into a nearby pillar. The impact making her cough blood.

"You'll what? Finger-fuck me until I beg for you to let me cum? Rape me until I beg you to let me die? You don't understand your place here Winter." Saffeara picked her up by the neck. "I am the hunter and you are the hunted."

She threw her into another pillar as she finished say this. Winter recovered more quickly from this one and formed a glyph under herself and sent a swarm of Nevermore at her. Saffeara squinted her eyes as she twirled Evercaster in her hand much like Jozy did with Obelisk and Dragon Razor before that. The sharp blade made short work of the Nevermore and Saffeara ran up to Winter. Their swords sent sparks flying as they clashed.

Saffeara kicked her away, "Don't fuck with me Winter. There's only one person who deserves that semblance and that is Weiss."

Saffeara grit her teeth as Winter remounted her attack and locked their swords once again.

"Oh, what's this defending the your rival? Don't you want to get in Ruby's pants at least once in your life?" Winter asked with a smirk on her face.

Saffeara pushed Winter away and shot a ball of electricity at her. The ball exploded and when Winter dodged it she gave both of them some breathing room.

Saffeara wiped the sweat off her brow, "I love Ruby; but I know how dangerous my feelings are. Weiss is twenty times better than I could ever be; and so long as she's still apart of my life I can live peacefully."

"Tsk. You damn wimp do you not realize that you could have anything you wanted just by taking it?" Winter asked.

Saffeara shot forward; a loud boom following her. Evercaster clashed with Winter's sword before locking them in place once again.

"I have enough." She said; pulling Winter's sword away with her own.

She grabbed Winter by her neck and lifted her up as much as her small form would allow her.

Winter smirked in Saffeara's grip, "Then are you saying that you don't love Ruby?"

"No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying that I _choose_ not to have her." Saffeara replied; her messy, blood stained hair covering her eyes.

"Heh, you fuckin' pussy." Winter said; outstretching her right hand.

Saffeara shot back as she was hit with another blue bolt of lightning. She landed on her back a slid for a few more feet; before stopping herself with her hands and flipping back up on her feet.

"See you finally learned to wield lightning Winter. However, it's only blue and only hurts so much." Saffeara said; spinning Evercaster in her fingers.

Winter's face tensed in frustration, "Oh yeah, you arrogant asshole. Then take this!"

She stretched her hand out again and shot another continuous bolt of lightning at her. Saffeara raised her left and caught the bolt; absorbing it into her own. ribbon wrapped, hand. Winter's expression contorted to one of horror as the bolt ended and Saffeara was completely fine.

Saffeara looked at her hand as electricity cracked between her fingers, "Are you so surprised? I mean I was trained by Jozy after all; however I could never master any of the Dust he tried to teach me." Winter felt a new sense of confidence when she said this. "I did master one though."

Saffeara raised her hand, "Now it's my turn."

Winter's eyes went wide as a red bolt of lightning came out of Saffeara's hand. She shot her own lightning; but the red appeared to devour her blue until the red hit her and sent her flying backwards. She landed on her back and steam poured off her skin.

Saffeara walked over to her and raised Evercaster over her head. She cut off the fingers on Winter's right hand, eliciting a cry of pain from the older woman. She then walked over to the other hand and cut those fingers off as well. She then kicked Winter over and onto her stomach. She started to straddle her back and stabbed Evercaster through Winter's left shoulder; pinning her to the ground.

Saffeara leaned down and whispered, "Hang tight for a second I believe we have a guest."

She turned around in time to see Mr. Schnee running at her with a large great sword. His eyes on fire with determination.

" _Kii Tah_ (You came)" Saffeara said; pointing both her hands at him.

He stopped and prepared to catch the lightning with the sword; however Saffeara had other plans. She shot black lightning at him; the strongest of all lightning types. The black lightning bolt shattered the sword and blew Mr. Schnee into a pink mist. Blood fell from sky like rain and covered Saffeara and Winter. She turned back to Winter and ran her hand down her head and neck, until her fingers hit the collar of her vest. She produced her claws and tore the vest exposing Winter's back. She cut her bra strap so that the entirety of her back was exposed to the short woman.

She drug her index claw down the center of her back, "So you were going to fuck my dead body? You are a disgusting piece of work, Winter. I bet you like getting boned by animals too."

"Fuck you, whore." Winter breathed out.

Saffeara laughed, "You would love to fuck me wouldn't you, _whore_?" Saffeara bent over and put her mouth next to Winter's ear. "The truth is I love you too. So much in fact that I could just eat you up."

With that Saffeara's claws ripped into Winter's back and started to pull muscle and fat out of her. She put chunk after chunk into her mouth and started to eat her. Winter screamed her lungs out and started to cry as pain ripped through her body. Saffeara dug deeper and broke a rib out of her back. She ran her teeth along the bone and shaved the flesh off the bone before swallowing it whole. Saffeara licked the blood off her fingers like barbecue sauce before standing up.

"You taste like shit." Saffeara said; placing her right foot on Winter's head.

She pressed down and cracked Winter's head open like a coconut; killing her instantly.

Saffeara withdrew Evercaster from Winter's body and returned it back to its sheath. She wiped her mouth and spit some blood on the ground; before preparing to jump up and fly out of this place. However, she was interrupted when she heard banging coming from the holding cells she had been in earlier. She immediately withdrew her sword again and rushed into the room. She kicked the door open and what she saw both surprised and filled her with happiness.

Inside was a man furiously trying to burrow his way into the concrete. He wasn't getting too far and had already torn his fingernails off and the skin around them. Saffeara smiled and grabbed the man by the back of the neck and carried him out of the room. A red aura enveloped her and the man. She jumped and burrowed her way into the ceiling and towards the surface. It to her around five minutes to break through the ground; and when she did Saffeara found herself in the middle of a random alley in the middle of the abandoned portion of the city. She threw the man to the ground and levitated slowly down. The ribbon that once covered her body had come loose and now freely blew off her body as the wind picked up. She stepped over to the man; her bare feet thudding softly on the asphalt.

"Long time no see, father." Saffeara said; pulling Evercaster out.

"Saffeara…" he choked out; his strength completely gone.

Saffeara giggled, "I guess today's my lucky day. Not only did I kill off the bad seeds of the Schnee bloodline; but I'll get to take my revenge on you as well."

Saffeara opened the blade of Evercaster and started to charge electricity inside of it. Her father's eyes went wide as she pointed the rapidly charging, sword at him. However, it was never fired as Saffeara felt a metal hand stop her from pressing the release. Saffeara turned around slowly and stopped when she saw Ruby standing behind her. Ruby's eyes were directed towards the her and Saffeara's hands. She had taken her mask off which was rare for her when she was on mission.

"Ruby…?" Saffeara said; in bewilderment.

Before she knew it Ruby lunged forward and wrapped her in a gentle hug. Saffeara dropped Evercaster to the ground when she did this and lightly hugged her back.

"It's okay, Saffeara, you can let the pain go. You've done enough." Ruby said; holding her head closer to her shoulder.

Saffeara bit her lip as she started to cry once again; but this time it felt different, like an ocean of relief had washed over her and there was no escaping it. Ruby knelt down as Saffeara sank to the ground her sobs growing louder.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't- I don't-" Saffeara's emotions would not let her form complete sentences.

Ruby pulled away and looked at Saffeara with a bright "Yangesk" smile on her face.

"It's alright we all make mistakes. Hell, I made one yesterday; but the point is I forgive you so let's just go home okay?" Ruby asked; touching Saffeara's forehead to hers.

The cuts on Saffeara's forehead cried angrily; but at this point she didn't care. A sudden thud made both girls look back to Saffeara's father who had started to crawl away.

Ruby stood up and took her cloak off and covered Saffeara with it, "Duty calls."

She walked over to Saffeara's father who turned over to look at Ruby.

"Stay away from me you monster!" he yelled; foaming from the mouth.

Ruby kicked him in the face hard enough to turn him over again, her boot knocking a tooth out of his mouth.

"Shut up." she said; pulling out a wire tie.

She wire tied his hands behind his back, "Oliver Vain you are under arrest for various war crimes and domestic crimes that include, but are not limited to; fifty two counts of rape and sexual assault, 105 cases of child molestation taken place over ten years, eighty nine counts of false imprisonment and torture, as well as over 100 war crimes ranging from illegal arms dealing to the genocide of twenty Faunus villages in Vacuo."

"You have no proof, bitch." he said; spitting on the ground.

Ruby pressed his head against the ground, "Actually, I have all the proof I need. You see when placed under the right pressure your ex wife sang like a songbird. It was actually quite pathetic."

"Oh what did you do? Cut a deal with her?" he asked; a snarky look on his face.

Ruby chuckled, "No, I lied to her that I would drop the child molestation charges if she gave me solid evidence against you. When she did I charged her anyway; because any woman who rapes her own daughter does not deserve to live."

Saffeara's eyes went wide as she recognized that Ruby was talking about the relationship between Haruka and her mother. Ruby stood up and stuck her fingers in her mouth and sent a high pitched whistle into the air.

On cue two squads of Sequoia Tree soldiers ran into the area and pointed their guns at Oliver. The tac. lights illuminating the old man's face. A Bullhead equipped with a spotlight on its chain gun started to orbit the area, keeping the place well lit. Behind the soldiers walked Kale and Tyler who concealed Jozy and Liz behind them. Up on top of a nearby building Ruby saw Orchid's white hair blowing in the wind. On either side Orchid sat a sniper that was watching both the skies and the ground.

Kale went over to Oliver and stepped on his hand. Oliver yelled in pain as a result.

"Hey, look Tyler I stepped in shit." Kale said; pointing to Oliver.

Tyler shook his head, "That sucks we should clean it up."

Tyler grabbed Oliver and hoisted him up by his currently conjoined wrists, "Come on move your fat ass."

"Hey turn him towards me." Kale commanded.

Tyler obliged and pointed Oliver at Kale; who quickly cracked him in the face with the muzzle break of Reflection Breaker. It cut his cheek and sent him to the ground crying in pain.

"Alright, you morons I need him in one piece if we want to try him." Jozy yelled over; rolling his eyes.

Kale and Tyler picked him and dragged him over to a nearby Bullhead that was hidden behind a building.

Liz, and a few medics, ran over to Saffeara and started to look over her wounds.

"Oh my God, you poor baby. Let me see." Liz said; pulling a flashlight from her suitcase she was carrying.

She opened Saffeara's eyes and flashed the light in them. Her eyes barely dilated when she did this.

"Okay, she's extremely exhausted and her semblance is strained. Get her hooked up to some fluids." Liz commanded a nurse next to her.

"It's amazing she hasn't-" Liz was cut off when Saffeara slumped forward sound asleep.

Liz caught her and started to laugh, "I may have spoken too soon."

Saffeara was sound asleep and would squeak in her sleep from time to time.

"Well, I guess that'll make taking care of her easier." The nurse commented.

"True let's get her hooked up; and back to the ship." Liz said; gently laying her down on the ground.

An hour later Saffeara was still asleep inside her hospital room on the Sequoia Tree capitol ship, _Artemis_. Ruby was standing out of the room talking to Weiss via her scroll. She had already filled her in as to what happened and was now in a normal conversation with her fiance. Saffeara groaned before her eyes fluttered open and looked towards the door.

"Hang on she just woke up I'll call you back. Yep, love you bye." Ruby said; ending the call.

She slowly walked over to Saffeara who smiled at her.

"I guess I owe you one." Saffeara said; in a raspy voice.

Ruby laughed, "Yeah, I'll add that one to the on going list."

Both of them laughed as the night progressed. The very odd calm before the storm.


	43. Chapter 43

**A/N: Thank you all for all the support on RWBY: Darkfall. So this is the last main story chapter, the next chapter will be an epilogue chapter that will deal with life three months after this chapter there I will also explain what's next for me. So I'll see you guys next weekend:) Please don't forget to favorite, follow, and review.**

"The end of my Darkfall"

Ruby and Saffeara sat in the hospital room silently staring out of the window, looking at the stars. It had been a few hours since Saffeara had first arrived and neither of them were tired; in fact Ruby had gotten them ice cream since Saffeara said that she was hungry for it.

Ruby licked the back of her spoon before returning to the now empty bowl, "What did Winter do to you, Saffeara?"

"I don't… want to talk about it. At least not yet." Saffeara said; a sad expression taking over face.

Ruby turned toward her and lightly touched her chin; her metal fingers making goosebumps form on Saffeara's skin.

"She tortured you did she? I can see it in your eyes." Ruby said; looking down at the floor.

Saffeara moved her cheek more into the palm of Ruby's hand, the cold Nevermore Feather alloy chilling her skin.

"I've heard the story one too many times of what they did to you back in Vale. I guess you would be an expert in the way I feel." she said; before pulling Ruby's hand down and starting to play with it.

Ruby looked at the ground silently weighing her experiences with everyone she has met.

"I pity you; you know. You used to be so free; but on that terrible day you payed for your primal semblance with your innocence." Saffeara said; rolling Ruby's hand into a fist before letting it retract back.

"I don't regret losing my innocence, Saffeara. I regret not being able to save you and a whole bunch of other people." Ruby said; her metal hand curling into a fist on its own.

Saffeara smiled, "I've told this to Liz so many times; but I think it's time I told you. You, Ruby Rose, worry too much."

Ruby cocked an eyebrow, "Well, somebody's got to."

"Yes, but does _that_ person have to be you all the time? If you keep this up you're going to neglect yourself and that could turn bad." Saffeara said; a faint glimmer of worry in her eyes.

Ruby was confused for a second, "So are you saying that you didn't want me to save you?"

Saffeara sighed, "I can see why Weiss calls you dunce. I'm telling to take care of yourself from time to time."

"But I already do that. I made sure to paint my nails before coming to get you." Ruby said; flashing her unpainted nails jokingly.

"I'm honestly debating whether or not I want to strangle you." Saffeara said; all too cheerfully.

Ruby laughed at this and set her bowl down on the table that Saffeara's bowl was on.

"Hey, I never did properly thank you for saving me so come here." Saffeara said; motioning toward herself.

Ruby was confused but leant forward anyway. She was surprised when Saffeara grabbed her by the collar and kissed her on the cheek.

Saffeara pulled away, "That's for saving my life. Now if you tell Weiss that was anything more than a thank you I'll kill you. I'm no home wrecker."

Ruby chuckled still kind of stunned from what Saffeara did, "I know don't worry I know what it was."

"Good, now with the Schnee's dead and Weiss preparing to change her name to yours; I believe the Faunus' war is finally over. However, there's still your war so, Ruby when you meet Ironwood be sure to kick his ass for all of us." Saffeara said.

Ruby nodded with a determined smile, "I will. I promise you that."

Saffeara nodded, "Good, I'm feeling tired all of sudden so good luck if I don't see you tomorrow."

Saffeara curled up into something like ball underneath the covers and shut her eyes. Ruby smirked to herself before opening the door and quietly shutting it behind her.

Ruby turned around and when she did her eyes went wide.

"Heroin of the year Ruby Rose gets all the ladies." Liz teased; her eyes glowing bright orange before settling back in their usual topaz.

Ruby smiled, "Spying on me through walls again, Liz?"

"No, I was actually looking for a damn pair of scissors I lost when I so happened to notice what was going on in Saffeara's room." she admitted; still kind of looking around.

Ruby looked down and noticed a pair of steel scissors sticking out of Liz's lab coat pocket. She quickly reached in and brought them towards Liz's attention.

"These wouldn't be them would it?" Ruby asked; dangling them between her thumb and index fingers.

Liz's eyes lit up again, only this time not from her semblance.

"Oh my God where did you find them?" Liz asked; snatching them away from Ruby.

Ruby snickered, "They were sticking out of your right jacket pocket."

Liz's face dead panned before she turned to the left and let her hair cover her eyes.

"I've been looking for those for fifteen minutes." she muttered.

Ruby laughed, "I think the pregnancy is going to your head."

"Yeah, you're probably right or maybe it was the peanut butter pickles." she half muttered.

"Peanut butter pickles?" Ruby asked; somewhat disgusted.

"Ruby, I'm three months pregnant the "exoticness" of my cravings will get much weirder. Like one time when I was pregnant with Orchid I sent Jozy out to the greasiest fast food he could find, and it was like three in the morning." Liz said; a ditsy smile on her face.

Ruby chuckled, "I bet he was pissed."

"Oh he was but he drowned his sorrows in a potato bowl. Speaking of which my husband is waiting for you in the hangar." Liz finally got to mention.

Ruby cocked her head to the side in confusion, "What does he want?"

"You're going to finish it. You only have one objective; kill General Ironwood." Liz replied.

Ruby sat inside of the Bullhead the red light illuminating her as Jozy sat next to her with his arms crossed. Ruby subconsciously tapped on her knee as she sat there staring at the floor.

"Nervous, Ruby?" Jozy asked; his face unshielded by his mask.

Ruby shrugged, "If I am, I don't feel it."

"Good it's important that you remain focused. Ironwood maybe evil; but he's still a Huntsmen and a headmaster so you'll need to be careful." Jozy cautioned.

"I know, are you sure you don't want to help me?" Ruby asked.

Jozy shook his head, "I can't right now the center of Atlas is still held by the enemy. In other words someone has to watch your ass… besides Weiss."

"Wow I didn't know you had jokes." Ruby teased.

"Oh, you have no idea. Besides that 'joke' was a little bit true I mean the last time I saw you two together I almost threw up in my mouth." Jozy replied.

Ruby looked back at him with smile that looked like Liz's, "Awe does my love life scare the master of all semblances?"

"Do you really want to have a dick measuring contest with me?" Jozy asked.

Ruby snickered, "You're just afraid that I'd win."

Jozy's face deadpanned, "Now all I'm thinking of is you with a penis. Thanks Ruby."

"You're welcome." Ruby sang; with a smug look on her face.

Jozy sighed at this, "Why do I like you people?"

"Are you implying that you don't actually like us? What would Liz think about that?" Ruby asked another playful smirk on her face.

"Liz is not people, she's my wife. I don't get to not like her." Jozy replied.

Ruby wiggled her brow, "A little bit biased aren't you? It's so cute."

"Yeah so is that picture of Weiss you keep in that pocket of yours." he countered, ready to give the girl a taste of her own medicine.

Ruby's face got warmer, "How did you know I had that?"

"Ruby, I have a wife that can see through walls; and she tells me things because she's board." Jozy said; a smug look adorning his face.

"That does not make me feel safe around Liz anymore." Ruby said; although she didn't mean it.

Jozy chuckled, "Don't worry she doesn't tell me everything."

The rest of the flight was largely uneventful as they flew into the center of the city.

Ruby and Jozy landed some time later and were now making their way through the rubble that was the result of extensive Sequoia Tree bombing. Ruby's eyelids felt heavy as her breathing started to get warmer.

"Hey what time is it?" Ruby asked; rubbing her right eye.

Jozy pulled out his scroll and looked at the time, "It's half past three."

"Well looks like I'm not getting any sleep tonight." Ruby stated.

"Heh, you would have gotten some sleep if you weren't having an ice cream party with Saffeara." Jozy said.

Ruby squinted her eyes at him, "Shut up."

Both continued to walk; their boots kicking small pebbles of concrete out of their way. The building around them were tall and foreboding of how wealthy this district of the kingdom was. What was left of the ornate artwork on the buildings was covered in dust and other dirt. They walked passed a cafe that used to have big glass windows in its store front. Now they were smashed on the ground and the interior was completely collapsed. The wind whistled through the dilapidated buildings and blew down the street sending Ruby and Jozy's hair flying wildly.

"Where's the rest of Atlas' army?" Ruby asked looking around.

"They're trying to fend off a push from our army in the north. The rest are literally around that tower defending Ironwood." Jozy said; pointing down the road.

Ruby followed his direction and saw the tallest building in all of Atlas down the road. It was made primarily of glass with a large glass dome on the front of it. The structure seemed largely undamaged so Ruby could only assume that it was protected by some heavy duty triple A.

"So how do we get in?" Ruby asked.

"Right there." Jozy said; now pointing towards a hole in the asphalt.

Ruby smiled as she made her way over to the hole.

She jumped down and her boots made a wet smack as they hit the concrete. It was a large sewer and it smelled like it. Ruby looked both ways before pulling her mask from her belt and put it on her face. As she did this Jozy jumped down, his heavy armored boots making a loud thud on the concrete. He had not put his mask on and now moved in front of Ruby.

"I'll take point." he said.

Ruby nodded pulling Lunar Rose from her back. She kept it in its folded sniper rifle mode for ease of use in these tunnels. She followed Jozy through a small corridor that lead to another water way.

"Where are you from Jozy?" Ruby asked; the question suddenly coming to her.

"I'm not from any kingdom. I was born in a small colony outside of Vale and when it was destroyed I was brought to Vale as a refugee." Jozy explained, before checking around a corner.

They walked around the corner, "Oh, then where are your parents?"

"They died in the destruction."

"I'm sorry." Ruby said; her eyes drifting towards the floor.

"Don't be I was too young to know them anyway." Jozy responded; his eyes like stone.

Ruby was surprised for a second, "Where do you get your white hair?"

"My mother was Atlysian and I get it from her. I get my yellow eyes from my dad who was Valysian." Jozy said.

Ruby's eyes widened, "Wow, so you're like stuck in between two opposing armies. That's kind of cool."

"I'm not stuck in the middle. I've chosen my side and I wouldn't go back on it." Jozy said.

Ruby smiled underneath her mask her trust for him growing. They came to a ladder that would lead to the outside.

"We're here. Be careful, because once we get out of here we part ways." Jozy said; grabbing the ladder.

"I will." Ruby said; following him.

Both of them popped out of a manhole located at the back of the building. From there they went through a maintenance door and entered the building.

The inside of the building was decorated with modern, white, wall panels and hardwood floors. The supports were made out of brick; and the lights were like floating white orbs. Although the power was out so they could not shine like they were intended to. Ruby and Jozy crouched walked over to a wide pillar as a squad of Atlysain soldiers revealed themselves. They were patrolling the ground floor and appeared to be unaware as to their presence.

"This is it Ruby; the elevator's behind us. Go up and face Ironwood I'll take care of them." Jozy whispered, summoning Obelisk from his sleeve.

Ruby put her hand on his shoulder, "Promise me you won't die."

"I don't intend to. Now go." Jozy ordered.

Ruby nodded before silently moving over to the elevator and pushing the button. When she was gone Jozy stood up and walked out from his hiding place; his hair glowing from the flood lights pointed in the room. Two of the five soldiers turned around and were caught off guard when they saw Jozy behind them. He slashed them both down the chest and once Obelisk left their bodies they turned into puddles of black goo. Jozy stabbed Obelisk into them and absorbed the goo off the ground. The rest of the soldiers pointed their guns at him and started firing. Jozy dodged and rushed toward them blade thirsting for blood.

Ruby ascended the tower; the elevator music driving her nuts. After two minutes Ruby realized just how big this tower really was and silently cursed herself for not taking the stairs. She was so bored she even took the time to pull the bolt pack on Lunar Rose even though she already knew it was loaded. Suddenly the elevator ground to a halt and the lights flickered.

"Shit." Ruby cursed; moving towards the door.

She pried it open only to find that it has stopped perfectly in front of a concrete wall. Ruby let out an annoyed sigh as she moved back to the center of the car and started to look around. Eventually her eyes landed on an emergency escape hatch on the ceiling of the car. She moved over to it and tried to open it; however, it didn't budge. It would only creek when force was applied to it. " _What the hell? Is this thing welded on?"_ Ruby asked herself. A stroke of genius, or stupidity, crossed her mind and it lead her to crouching down and pointing Lunar Rose at the escape hatch. " _This is going to be loud as fuck."_ Ruby grimaced. She started to squeeze the trigger and after a few moments the weapon fired; the loud bang echoing through the enclosed space. The panel shattered as the large round went through like butter, sending shrapnel flying both inside and outside of the elevator. Ruby recovered quickly and jumped out of the car; her ears ringing painfully. She activated her semblance and started to jump from wall to wall. " _This is faster than any elevator."_ Ruby thought with a smile on her face.

She eventually came to the top floor and pried its elevator doors open. She jumped into the room; her heels clicking on the dark evergreen floor. To her left and right were two stair cases that lead to a door on either side of the room. In front of her sat a black desk that faced the large window overlooking the crumbling city. At the desk sat a large black chair that his its occupant from view.

"Welcome Ruby. It's been awhile since I last saw you. You've grown up." Ironwood said; turning the chair around.

"General Ironwood, I figured you'd be hold up in a place a little… whiter." Ruby said; making a reference to the Elysian colors.

"True, but at the end of the day this was the most defensive position we could find." Ironwood said.

Ruby pointed Lunar Rose at him, "It didn't help you."

"Are you here to take revenge on me or to negotiate?" Ironwood asked.

"Killing you is the fastest option." Ruby said.

"I see well this is my bargaining chip." Ironwood said; holding his hand out.

Suddenly the left door opened and a woman with long blonde hair walked out. Ruby's eyes widened as she saw the same blue eyed girl she had seen in the apartment complex walking behind her; a knife to her neck.

The woman behind her was Progenitor Arial Abraham; the most powerful woman in Atlas. She was dressed in a long white dress that flowed with her hair that reached to her feet. Half of her face was covered by said hair and revealed only her mouth, nose and one green eye. Her long fingernails moved through the young girl's hair as she moved passed Ruby. She took her place next to Ironwood who had a smug look on his face. Ruby grit her teeth before lowering her rifle. She pulled her mask off and moved over to the other side of Ironwood's desk where she pulled a chair over.

"I'm happy you can still see reason Ruby." Ironwood said.

Ruby's eye twitched, "What do you want me to do?"

"Oh, come on Ruby. It's not like we can't have a conversation like normal people." Ironwood said.

Ruby smacked the table, "We're negotiating Ironwood and I believe it's common courtesy not to waste time."

Ironwood grunted, "Fine. All you have to do is surrender right now; and we'll seek peace with the Sequoia Tree."

Ruby shifted her eyes over to Eberly, "Let her go first."

"You don't understand your place do you Ruby? You can't argue because we'll just kill her." Ironwood countered.

Ruby's metal hand tightened.

"Miss Rose I'm not scared." Eberly said, before Ariel hit her in the back of the head.

Ruby chuckled, "She's got balls. You have a deal."

"Great, Ariel kill her." Ironwood commanded.

In motioned Ariel sawed Eberly's head off in front of Ruby.

"No!" Ruby screamed; jumping up from her seat.

She grabbed Lunar Rose and shot Ironwood, however the round bounced off the cybernetic part of his body. He jumped up and grabbed Lunar Rose and ripped it from Ruby's hands whilst pulling out his pistol. He shot Ruby inthe side of the head, the bullet ripping through her eyes and nothing else. Ruby screamed as her vision disappeared and blood ran down her face. She dropped Lunar Rose to the ground and started to move slowly trying to feel her way around. She grabbed the table only to be knocked to the floor by Ariel.

"So seem to be a little handicapped, Ruby." she teased.

Ruby started to crawl, but soon flipped herself over. Her eviscerated eyes covered by her messy, blood-soaked, hair.

Meanwhile Jozy was in a fight of his own down at the bottom of the tower. He was hidden behind a wall of ice that he had formed when the fire had gotten too unmanageable. Now, however, it was being steadily chipped away by the incoming gunfire. Thinking fast Jozy raised his hand and shot a volley of ice spikes out of the wall and shredded the Atlysian soldiers who couldn't take cover in time. Some laid on the ground screaming as the spikes didn't kill them; and were instead horribly mamed by the 12 inch spikes. The ice wall fell to reveal Jozy standing behind it; Obelisk pointed at the ground. He was about to turn around and proceed back into the building when a shot rang out from a nearby rooftop. The round ripped through Jozy's left arm at where his bicep was. Jozy groaned in anger and pain as blood, muscle, skin and sinew exploded from his wound. He clutched his arm as he ran back behind a support pillar; another round exploded on his cover. Jozy moved his hand away from the wound and grit his teeth as the stung it. He took security in the fact that the muscle fibers had already started to regenerate; but he wasn't naive he knew from expierience that this wound would take at least a minute , and Liz wasn't here to speed up the process either. An Atlysian SF truck pulled up and dispensed its troops. They were all carrying laser katanas that were sharp enough to even cut Ruby's arm into pieces.

"Looks like I'll have to take you guys more seriously." Jozy said; pulling his mask from his belt.

He slipped it over his head and when came into place the teeth locked down with a sharp metallic sound. The first SF soldier rounded the corner and tried to stab Jozy, however, he found his sword guided into the pillar. Jozy put him in a headlock quickly and pulled hard until he heard his neck crack. The next soldier appeared behind Jozy, who reacted quickly and threw the dead body at him. His katana pierced through his now dead comrade and got stuck there rendering it useless. Jozy flanked him and grabbed his head before slamming it into the pillar, cracking it and killing him. The final one that was even remotely close to him came behind him once again and tried to slash him from behind. Jozy quickly parried him with Obelisk and they were showered in sparks as the two blades met. The light like that of a plasma cutter burst forth into the room.

"You scared?" The SF soldier taunted.

"I think you already know the answer." Jozy said.

Suddenly electricity channeled through Obelisk and into the laser katana. The sudden surge of power made the katana explode into fine powder before Jozy reached through it and grabbed the SF soldier by his neck.

"You can talk all you want; but at the end of the day you better have the skills to support it." Jozy said; lifting him off the ground.

Jozy's hand started to glow red and in one second the soldier burst into flames, the oxygen in his body used as fuel. He dropped him to the ground and looked up to see the other soldiers were about to fire on him. Luckily an explosion erupted between them and sent them flying. The sound of squeaking and heavy engines caused him to look down the road in time to see a column of Sequoia Tree armor coming down the road.

Their machine gunners opened up showering the area in hellfire while the tank's main guns focused on uprooting the soldiers who were dug into the nearby building. Jozy looked up to see the sniper who had shot him get stabbed in the back by Kale. The chainsword of Reflection Breaker making it rain blood from above. The lead tank fired and the high explosive round made short work of the remaining Atlysian forces. The first tank pulled up next to Jozy who immediately noticed Saffeara sitting on the barrel. Her hands and feet were covered in the same black bandages that had covered her body during the fight with Winter, however this time most of them were covered by her black robe that had been retrieved. Tyler jumped out of the second tank and made his way over to Jozy.

"Out of the hospital so soon, Saffeara?" Jozy asked.

Saffeara giggled jumping down from the barrel, "No, but we did bring my doctor with me."

Saffeara pounded on the tank and Liz popped out from the driver's hatch.

"Hiiiiiiii!" she yelled, waving her hand exaggeratedly.

Tyler and Kale moved to either side of Jozy whose eyes were wide.

"You brought my pregnant wife into a warzone. I'm going to kill all of you." Jozy said.

"Yeah that's what she said to us if we didn't bring her." Kale said.

Liz and Saffeara made their way over to Jozy.

"Where's Ruby?" Liz asked.

Jozy looked up towards the top of the tower, "Nowhere good."

Ruby woke up in a field of pink flowers. The soft petals gently caressing her head. The sky above was no more than a blank sheet of white that went on forever.

Ruby grunted as she quickly sat up; turning her head from side to side, "Where am I?"

"Hey rosebud." A voice said from behind her; echoing off into the distance.

Ruby froze recognizing the voice. She turned around slowly until the full image of her mother came into view. She was sitting on the ground watching her daughter with a smirk on her face. Her white cloak blew in the wind along with her hair right before Ruby's matched it.

"M-Mom." Ruby asked, the shock choking her up.

Summer stood up, "That's me."

She pulled Ruby to her feet and tightly hugged her, "God I've missed you."

Ruby was stunned which is why her reciprocation was delayed.

"Mom are- are you…" Ruby trailed off.

Summer backed away a little and cupped Ruby's cheek, "No sweetie, I'm not alive."

"O-Oh." Ruby said; disappointment evident in her voice.

"Ruby do you know why I'm here?" Summer asked.

Ruby shook her head, "No, I don't even know why I'm here; or where I am."

"We're inside you head , Ruby; and there's something you need to see." Summer said; turning around a little bit.

Ruby looked passed her and was stunned to see Jaune, Penny, Neon, and Flynt walking toward her. They looked exactly as they did three years ago before everything fell apart.

"Hey, Ruby." Jaune said.

"Jaune how are you…" Ruby trailed off.

"I'm not alive Ruby. Heck I'm not even really Jaune. I'm just his semblance. You were too distraught at the time to notice that you absorbed me." he explained.

Ruby's eyes darted around the room; looking at all her friends and her mom.

"Then that means you all are semblances; even you, mom?" Ruby asked.

Summer nodded, "When Jozy saved you from Seeker he transferred me over to you. So you might say I've been with you the whole time."

The world started to quake but it quickly passed. Summer moved over to Ruby and grabbed her shoulders.

"We're out of time Ruby. It's time to wake up and to fully master your Primal Semblance." She wrapped her arms around Ruby's head. "Just listen to my voice. Ruby it's time to wake up."

Ruby closed her eyes as her mother repeated herself; and in a matter of moments she was brought back to the real world. She opened up her left and and assumed the right one hadn't regenerated yet since she couldn't open it. Her pupil turned yellow while the rest of her eye turned jet black. She started to get up and found that Ironwood and Ariel were looking at her.

"She's up faster than I thought. I guess we'll need to teach her even more-" Ariel was cut off when a single rose petal flew off of Ruby and started to glow like molten metal. The petal flew like a bullet and went into Ariel's mouth, before coming out the other side.

Her lifeless body fell to the ground in front of Ironwood who was horrified. Ruby raised her human hand and absorbed Ariel's semblance into her being.

"Hey, Ironwood I can taste my own blood; yet I'm not scared." Ruby said; stoicly

Ironwood grit his teeth and started to fire his pistol at Ruby. A swarm of glowing rose petals circled around Ruby and blocked the bullets from hitting her. As this happened Ruby summoned a Deathstalker's tail from her back and sent it at Ironwood. The tail cut off Ironwoods metal arm and also took out the large window with a mighty crash. Ruby then boosted over to Lunar Rose and shot Ironwood once in the chest and then the leg. Ironwood stumbled over to the ledge and sat down there looking up at Ruby; who deployed Lunar Rose's scythe form.

"Goodbye, James Ironwood." Ruby said.

With that she cut his head off sending it tumbling to the ground. An ocean of relief enveloped Ruby and as the sun rose she realized that the war was over. She folded Lunar Rose before taking her cloak off and draping it over Eberly's body and head. She could always get a new one. She then turned around and sat down in the same chair she had sat in before.

She watched the sun steadily rise along the horizon, "Negotiations are over."


	44. Chapter 44

"Epilogue"

One month after the war was officially over the Sequoia Tree went to work rebuilding Atlas from the ground up. Buildings were rebuilt and order was restored. The dead were buried and the government was rebuilt with non corrupt men and fair laws written by Tyler. The four kingdoms were now one again and sought to build stronger relations with each other as the Sequoia Tree played moderator from their home city, Harmony. Harmony was still currently under construction; but inside of it held the entirety of the strongest military power in all of Remnant. It was placed in the middle of the deep jungle of the "Black Dragon" continent.

Two months after the war the Sequoia Tree instituted the extermination act which sent Sequoia Tree soldiers to each of the four kingdoms with the sole purpose of increasing their borders by 100 miles in one month. The campaign was bloody yet it was accomplished with one week left to spare. Final totals estimated that over one million Grimm of all shapes and sizes had been slaughtered; and only 200 men had been killed. This created a new frontier zone of new land and many resources that had once been scarce for each of the kingdoms. This also allowed the Sequoia Tree grow in its power which meant more volunteers for her military.

A month passed and Ruby was lying bed; snuggled up to Weiss. They were both facing the window; which was to their left. They had just moved into a new two story house in the middle of a remote part of Forever Fall forest, which had recently been freed up thanks to the extermination act a month earlier. The sun rose above the trees and flowed through the open window hitting both of them women in the face. Ruby and Weiss groaned as the light ripped them from their sleep.

Ruby sat up and ran her metal hand through her hair, "Weiss… Weiss it's time to get up."

Weiss just covered her face with the comforter and mumbled something unintelligible. Ruby rubbed her eyes before looking at Weiss. She layed back down next to her and started to kiss the back of her neck lovingly.

"Weiss if you don't wake up I'm going to have to wake you up." Ruby said; sensually whilst tugging on the right strap of Weiss' nightgown.

This got Weiss' attention causing her to look at Ruby. Her ice blue eyes had a tired expression in them as she moved her left hand to Ruby's cheek, revealing the red wedding band next to her engagement ring. Ruby put her left hand on Weiss' cheek as well and revealed a white wedding band of her own.

"I really dislike you in the morning." Weiss said; tiredly yet playfully.

Ruby chuckled, "Aww, but I love you every hour of the day."

"I know that's why I can't resist you." Weiss said; leaning up and kissing Ruby.

Ruby happily accepted and started to furiously fight with Weiss for control. She moved her right hand down until she felt Weiss' thigh and gradually started to follow it up. Weiss felt Ruby's smooth metal fingers traveling up her and even though she wanted it so bad she knew the consequences of it.

She broke the kiss and grabbed Ruby's arm, "Ruby, I really don't feel like doing laundry first thing in the morning."

"You want to go to the bathroom again?" Ruby asked.

Weiss was mortified, "Ruby don't just say that so nonchalantly."

Ruby laughed as she looked at Weiss blushing face.

"I'll clean it up for you." Ruby said; renewing her assault on Weiss' mouth.

An hour passed and Ruby was now sitting at the kitchen table her brow furrowed as she read the list of jobs Yang sent her. " _Missing persons in Mistral. Increased Grimm activity in Northern mantle."_ she read.

"Educating yourself on the still beating problems in the world?" Weiss asked; walking in from the living room.

"Unfortunately I am. It seems that we've saved the world twice now and yet new enemies are still showing thier heads." Ruby said; as Weiss set a cup of coffee next to her.

Weiss' expression was serious, "I think humanity will always have problems and peace is just an era of less problems. So I think we should enjoy it while it's still here because like before it will leave when we least expect it."

Ruby smiled at her, "I agree; but in any case I need to be going now."

"Going to see Jozy, right?" Weiss asked; as Ruby got up from the table.

"Yep, he's going to tell me what my role in the Sequoia Tree will be while we're in peacetime." Ruby explained; grabbing her black overcoat off the wall.

Weiss sighed, "Hopefully it'll be something easier this time. By the way I took a job yesterday so I'll need the car."

"No worries, I was quite literally going to run down there so use it to you heart's content." Ruby said; watching Weiss get up from the table.

"Yeah, like you used me this morning." Weiss muttered; hoping to get a response from Ruby.

"I didn't hear you complaining; but then again unintelligent moans and squeaking aren't words either." Ruby chuckled; wrapping her arms around Weiss' waist when she got close enough.

Weiss put her arms around the back of Ruby's neck, "I think I'm really starting to hate you."

"That was fast. I in turn think I'm really starting to love you." Ruby whispered to her.

She leaned down and placed a soft and sweet kiss to Weiss' lips that immediately made the shorter girl go flush. The kiss was over all too soon as Weiss had to breath and thus had to break the kiss.

"Damn, why are you so good to me?" she asked; licking Ruby's lip gloss off her own.

"Because you're worth it. You're my own personal princess and I will treat you as such. Unfortunately, I really have to go now so I'll see you later. I love you." Ruby said; opening the door.

Weiss walked forward and leaned in the doorway. She saw Ruby walk out towards the gravel road before disappearing into a cloud of rose petals. A smile grew on her face as the warmth in her chest only grew. The low rumble of thunder freed her from her thoughts and caused Weiss to look up at the sky. The sun had been replaced by grey storm clouds that were begging to explode with rain. Weiss looked in the corner of the doorway and saw that Ruby had not taken an umbrella with her.

She sighed, "That dolt."

Weiss shut the door and closed the windows as to not let the oncoming rain in.

It took Ruby around 30 minutes to make it to the outskirts of Vale where she took a bus to a cafe that she was to meet Jozy at. By the time she made it the rain was lightly falling and the scent of summer blew with the light wind. Ruby got off the bus and took note of the small cafe in front of her.

It was a small brick building with a flat roof and four large windows that allowed one to look at the outside view from a place of comfort. The left of the building was completely covered in vinery that had probably been growing for years prior to her arrival. The vines curled around the corner of the building and eventually lead to its sign which read, "Lavender Meadow". " _What a strange name for a cafe."_ Ruby thought, walking up to it.

She opened the door and was greeted by the smell of freshly baked pastries mixed with the smell of firewood from the fire that had just been stocked.

"Welcome to Lavender Meadow. Can I get you a seat or are you looking for someone?" a waitress asked her with a soft gentle smile on her face.

Ruby looked at the waitress and found that she had to at least be in her mid thirties. She had neck length sky blue hair that covered her right eye, yet left the opposite one completely exposed. Her eye was the color of deep aquamarine and gave off a seductive allure; but oddly enough seemed content in of itself.

"I'm looking for someone. Jozy Glass?" Ruby asked.

The waitress's lips curled into a soft smile that would make Liz jealous.

"So you're the infamous, Ruby Rose." She said; with a click of her tongue.

Ruby cocked an eyebrow in surprise, "You know me?"

"Well of course I do. I'm Mackenzie Rogue, Kale's wife." She laughed.

Ruby's eyes went wide, "Oh, wow I had no idea. You're a lot prettier than even he could describe."

That made Mackenzie laugh a bit harder, "Okay, don't make me laugh so hard. I've had three kids my bladder's not as good as it used to be."

Ruby got a relieved smile on her face.

"Anyway, Jozy's over here so follow me." Mackenzie said; starting to walk across the room.

Ruby followed her and couldn't help but notice that some of the customers recognized her. Ruby stood a bit straighter as her boots came off the carpet and hit hardwood floors that surrounded the fireplace. In front of her sat Jozy who was reading a comic book of all things.

On the back of his chair hung his black toggle coat that was obviously much too warm for summer. Instead he was wearing a black short sleeved shirt that was tucked into a pair of black cargo pants whose bottoms were tucked into his leather boots that were armored with metal. His muscles were prominent under the black T-shirt which only helped his outfit scream "military".

Ruby walked past Mackenzie and pulled the chair out across from Jozy. She took off her over coat to reveal a red blouse that separated itself out from her black pants.

"Enjoying that 'book' yours?" Ruby asked; sitting across from him.

Jozy looked up, "I happen to find these more interesting than other novels."

"Of course you do. So what is you wanted to talk to me about?" Ruby asked; putting her elbows on the table.

Jozy straightened up in his chair, "What do you want to do Ruby?"

Ruby thought for a moment, "I like the Sequoia Tree because it gives me a stable source of income; yet I think my time being a soldier is up."

"I understand where you're coming from; but you're still a Primal and it's probably best if we stick together." Jozy said.

"I agree; but is it the best thing for a world in peacetime?" Ruby asked.

"I think the best thing for a world in peacetime is this idea that I formulated." Jozy said; setting the book down.

"What is it?"

"We let you be the Sequoia Tree's reaper. You can travel all around Remnant and take any job you want. The only catch is that you'll also be working for me; but I'll try to notify you of Sequoia Tree jobs in advance." Jozy explained.

"It doesn't sound too bad. So what you're saying is that I just travel around and take jobs?" Ruby asked.

"That's the jist of it yeah."

"Could I take someone with me?"

"Within reason yes."

"Alright I'll do it." Ruby said.

A week later Ruby was getting ready to leave. She put her bag on her back and adjusted it accordingly.

"How long are you going to be gone?" Weiss asked; anxiety evident in her voice.

"It's just going to be a week. We're just going to be traveling to Vale and then Mistral. We'll do a few jobs along the way and then I'll be back." Ruby explained; trying to calm her wife.

"It sounds so much safer coming from your lips." Weiss said; biting her bottom lip.

Ruby moved over to her and started to kiss her cheeks until Weiss stopped biting her lip. She then took the opportunity to kiss Weiss on the lips. When she pulled away she smiled at Weiss.

"I'm going to be okay. Plus I'm coming back just for you." Ruby said; hugging her.

"You better." Weiss whispered.

Ruby smiled before looking at the clock and acknowledging it was time for her to go.

"I got to go. I love you." Ruby said; pulling away.

"I love you too. Be safe." Weiss said; watching Ruby open and close the door behind her.

Ruby walked down the steps of her porch to find Saffeara standing in front of her house with Dye at her feet wagging his tail happily. She was dressed in her typical back robe with the hood pulled up. She had a backpack on and her feet were wrapped in her black bandages. Lastly Evercaster was on her back as well only this time it had a new sheath to accommodate Saffeara's improvements to it.

Ruby walked over to her and started to pet Dye, "You ready to go, Saffeara?"

"Rodger dodger, Ruby." Saffeara replied.

Ruby chuckled, "Good, because we have a lot of work to do."

 **A/N: Thank you guys so much for the continued support throughout this series. Special shout out to Knight7572 and MardukWritInd since they have left a review on every chapter since their first reading the story. Thank you to all my followers and people who have favorited me as an author. Also a very special thank you to those who have favorited RWBY: Darkfall itself and gave my characters a chance. Last but not least thank you to all my friends who gave me great ideas for this story and helped me develop these characters into who they are.**

 **Okay enough ass kissing it's time to discuss what's next for RWBY: Darkfall. So yes I am doing a sequel to this; but the sequel is noing to be out for a few weeks(maybe a month) so here's what I'm going to work on in the meantime. On the weekend of march 19th a short story will be uploaded and it will be the first kind of "OVA" type of series. Here's a list of the order of these "OVAs"**

" **Melancholy of the Wolf"**

" **Angel"**

" **Calling Dark"**

" **Kanji"**

" **Death"**

 **Anyway that's enough of me I'll see you guys in two weeks;)**


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